Ryan Clark thinks Dallas CAN WIN because of Dak Prescott 🫨 I First Take

Ryan Clark thinks Dallas CAN WIN because of Dak Prescott 🫨 I First Take

Talk about that all day. No question about it. Got to move on to this though. The Cowboys face the Bears Sunday in Chicago. All right. Dak Prescott is coming off a monster game against the Giants, throwing for 361 yards and two touchdowns. It’s the most pass yards Prescott has had since week three of last season. Troy Aman with high praise for Dak. Take a listen. I just sense that there’s a confidence about him uh in the way in which he’s playing that I don’t want to say I haven’t seen it before, but I just feel like he’s really dialed in and uh feeling good about uh where this offense uh is going, the way that it’s playing, the way he’s playing. I love Dak. Uh there’s nothing I’d rather see than see him go on and and win a Super Bowl and win multiple Super Bowls and, you know, win more than me and Roger and all of us combined if possible because he’s that type of guy and he represents himself and the organization and really our city uh so well. L RC, let’s go to you first. Is Dak playing on another level? No. And that’s not disrespectful because we’ve seen Dak play at this level. We saw Dak in 2023 go for 45,500 yards, stole for 36 touchdowns, only nine interceptions. We saw Dak finish second in the MVP voting, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing from him playing right now. But to me, it’s about the leadership. To me, it’s about the way that he presents when faced with adversity as a team. It’s the way he handled himself during Michael Parson’s contract negotiations, the thing the things he said, his demeanor. It’s the way that he backed CD Lamb after CD Lamb had three drops versus the Philadelphia Eagles and then went back to him against the New York Giants. Found ways to get George Pickkins involved. It’s Dak Prescott who has become not only the reason this team can win football games, but the voice of the locker room, the catalyst of everything that happens there. And I’m looking at Dak more this year than I’m looking at Jerry Jones in the last two two weeks. I’m thinking about Dak’s play more than I’m thinking about what Jerry Jones is saying in the last two weeks. And that that’s a testament to how he’s playing, but it’s also a testament to how he’s conducting himself each and every day when there’s a microphone in front of him, a camera that’s on him or we’re putting on the X’s and O’s in all. The only push back I’d give you, you cool with how he handled the Michael Parson situ. You don’t think he should have spoke up more during the negotiations? Absolutely not. Okay. Absolutely not. Cuz Dak Prescott said he Dak Prescott said we we are used to dealing with this. Dak Prescott played on a on a tinder, right? Dak Prescott played on the franchise tag. He watched Demarcus Lawrence do it. And however Michael Parsons was going to handle his situation is the way he was supposed to handle it. He didn’t degrade Michael Parsons. He didn’t say Michael Parsons was wrong. He basically said, “I’m tired of seeing this from Jerry Jones and our organization.” Yeah, that’s what I was talking about. I’m saying he should have spoke up during the negotiations to say, “Yo, don’t lose this brother. We can’t afford to lose this brother. Look at our defense without him.” That’s what I’m saying. I mean, it’s just me. Well, let me go to you. Go ahead. No, it’s it’s more or less I think Dak Prescott is settling in. And call me crazy, okay? But these are your words while you were interviewing Jerry Jones. Yes, sir. You did not think that Dak Prescott was the face of that team. That’s correct. Right. That’s correct. There’s one thing and there’s something to say about an individual not just that that that has something to prove but it’s a sense of calm. Uh rest in peace to Mr. Jerry Richardson uh the owner who drafted me or the franchise owner who drafted me for owner of Carolina. One of the main things that he spoke about was harmony right and you ask yourself what is harmony? Harmony is when hey bro we coming in. Hey boom we vibing. We cool. Chemistry continuity is there. Well when you have a superstar it does one of two things. It either can it can propel you or you, right? Respectfully you to the fact that you can worry, man, Micah is gonna do Micah things, but it can handicap you because now you you become so reliant to that. It could propel you because it’s like, you know what, RC, we ain’t got Micah, dog. So, I need you to step in this A gap and be in this A gap when you’re supposed to be in this A gap. Micah used to be the B, C, D, E, X, Y, Z. We don’t have that no, bro. So, we need everybody collective. Stephen A, bro, I need you to be right. these guys are really locking in to that. And this is the thing. It’s not about statistics with Dak Prescott. I think it’s it’s the the knowing that I need to play smart, not conservative. There’s a difference. And when you look at a game even last night with Tua and you see the game that just transpired with the New York Giants is hey that gonna do something that Quavius like that Quavius and he did not just get the guys in the opportunity to make a play. You got a a hell of a field goal kicker. Get them in position bro. Don’t do anything. Don’t try to play hero ball in the in the dynamic. But the thing is this though, like this team has an opportunity to win because of Dak Prescott. And I’ve heard Cam have the conversation many times. Can we win because of you? Can we do we have to win in spite of you? This team in its current iteration wins because of Dak Prescott because Dak Prescott puts the ball on Jake Ferguson and gives Brandon Aubry an opportunity to make a field goal from 64 yards. Cuz you know that isn’t in his range. whether it’s in overtime, making sure I hit George Pickkins and give him an opportunity in one-on- ons. Also understanding part of being a franchise quarterback, and Cam knows this, he’s played with great receivers, is making sure I not only give them opportunities to make plays, but they feel like they’re a part of it. Yeah. The first week, George Pickkins didn’t get to feel like he was a part of it. So, he made sure he did this week by being smart, but not being conservative. Dak Prescott is now an aggressive player at the position and non-aggressive off the field. That’s who you want your leader to be. You want him to be able to be here at all times based on what’s happening around him and then when he goes out on the field, he performs and that’s what he’s doing. Well, listen, I have no problem with what you’re saying. I will concur with what you going through. All I’m trying to say is listen, it’s all right to be talking about it in September. Can we be saying this in January? Can Can we Can we do that? I mean, you just brought up what two is making. He ain’t making what Dak’s making. That’s 60 million. That’s 60 million. 60 million. And the thing is though, we’re not asking those same questions about Dak right now, though. I understand. And I’m saying we usually have it most regular season. The brothers are 30 like 33 games over 500 regular season. I’m Can we get a rule number six? What the rule number? The host shall not hate all the time. Wow. Can we get that? I’m not hating all the time. just sometimes. Let’s go. KMRC back in the house on first take. The Raiders are hoping to have a bounceback performance this week against the Commanders after falling flat in week two. The offense in particular struggled to get going with first round pick Ashton Genty, only gaining 43 yards on the ground after having just 38 yards in week one. Genty and his offensive coordinator Chip Kelly spoke on the Raiders game plan for the young running back. think you you draft a guy like me um to not give me you know carries and and touches and you know I’m I’m ready for the responsibility and you know like I said um you know it’s going to start with me and you know in the run game and I got to continue to get better. You would love for Ashton Genty to play every play but if you play Brock and Ashton or any of those guys every play in every game by the time you get to game eight you’re not going to have guys left you know because there’s there’s certain amount of plays you know in basketball it’s called load management. It’s not, we’re not sitting out games here, but I think you have to be conscious of over the course of 17 games. If some guys carrying the ball 30 times a game, you know, they only have so many carries in a season and if you’re going to you’re going to waste them, not waste them, but if you’re using them early, then it’s going to hurt you late. Let’s go to Ken first. Does Genty need to get more touches? No, no, no, no, no. I’m about to I’m curious to see what you guys think. I got my point and I’m not I’m not holding back, but you know, I just really want to kind of absorb the room. Yeah, I I got it for sure. Yeah. What’s Ashton Genty’s it factor? Cuz when you got it, you got it and it pops. We see it at some point. Fred Taylor had it. Leenian Tomlinson had it. Adrien Peterson, Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Bjan Robinson. We saw it. You saw it early. Even if the statistics didn’t say, “Oh, he rushes for 100, right? It was something early.” Where is Ashton Genty’s? Ashton Genty doesn’t have that it factor. And I don’t think this is a load management thing. I think this is a production thing. This is a pop thing. I remember when Trent Richardson was going to Cleveland. I’m a SEC guy. I’m telling Coach T, I was like, “Coach T, like they they got Trent Richardson, like we got to be ready.” And he said, “Here’s the thing about Trent Richardson, RC.” He said, “He doesn’t deliver punishment. He just absorbs it. He said, “And children get tired of hitting him.” He said, “Grown men won’t.” It’s the same thing with Ashton Genty. Ashton Genty’s playing at Boise States. He’s getting a ton of carries and young men got tired of hitting him. These boys up here, you think Derwin James, he’s going to get tired of hitting him? Looking forward to it. You know what I’m saying? Like, you think you think these backers in the league gonna get tired of hitting him? It made me wonder when Ashton Genty only did drills for the proday, what’s his 40? What’s his explosion? Explain that to our audience. When you say he only did drills. So So we have we have no 40 on Ashton Jensy. We have no broad jump on Ashton Genty. We have no no pro shuttle on Ashton Jensy. We have no vertical on Ashton Jensy. All of these things that tell me how dynamic you are. And Cam knows this as well as I do. People who are dynamic, people who are explosive love nothing more than the peacock and show it off. Show to show it to show. When you look at Saquon Barklay’s combine, when he ran 44 flat, he was disappointed cuz he thought he was 43. And so to me, Ashton Genty doesn’t have that pop. Doesn’t have that thing that makes him different. And I don’t believe it’s load management. I believe it’s production. Hey, before we go to Camden, why on earth would the Las Vegas Raiders draft this dude based on what he I mean when when he didn’t do the things that you just highlighted? Listen, go ahead, Stephen Anthony. Yes, sir. A lot of times the NFL draft or like other drafts, you go with a popular pick because that pick may save your career because if you don’t pick the popular pick and that popular pick does pans out. Mhm. But if he flops then it’s okay, he’s a bust. So that’s that. Two things can be true, right? And this is what I was intrigued to kind of hear. I don’t think this is a load management situation. I think this is you have to win the game how the game needs to be won situation. We’re not in a game where we’re leading these games. Aston, that’s where the Derek Henry’s are able to really showcase why I am King Henry. because we’ve seen the Baltimore Ravens in a situation where we got to put games away. We have to run the football when we want to and when we need to. Well, when Gino Smith has the games that he’s having this pass game and he’s throwing the ball and putting the balls up uh uh uh in a team meeting, it’s like what what are we doing? So, how can I run the football when we’re down? Yeah, but when he’s running the football, he’s only averaging like 2.7 yards a carry. And the other thing is this. We’re talking about dudes that really love running the football. Pete Carol wants to run the ball. He wants to run. Chip Kelly wants to run the football. They don’t want to go into a game where G Chip Kelly said after the game, Gino’s putting those balls up down the field. We have some opportunities short. We don’t want to be doing that. We got to go look at that. This is an Ashton Jenty thing. And to be fair, he was getting contacted early against the New England Patriots. There wasn’t a lot of space, right? But he also wasn’t creating. When you watch the best of the best, they do one of two things. They can run through you or they create separation. When I’m telling y’all, when Leenian Tomlinson put his foot in the ground, he would be so far away from you on the next step. The explosion, the lateral quickness, it was different. I don’t see that from Ashton Genty. I didn’t see that from him at Boise. me. I think you get into camp and you realize this might not have been the pick and they have to figure out a way to get him involved while not setting the team back. But Cam, what about the notion that no team will allow him to run the football because Gino Smith is his quarterback? It’s it’s not even that. I I I think really you have to just learn and this is for any uh skilled player in the NFL. You have to sometimes suppress your appetite because the reality of your situation is not conducive for you to play how you want to. All right, we’re seeing a situation in Arizona as well with Marvin Harrison Jr. The list goes on. AJ Brown and but Marvin Harrison Jr. is a different situation because that brother has shown he can play. Y’all, we’re still wondering about Ashton. We don’t we know a Marvin Harrison Jr. can play, do we not? Shown you he can play where? Oh, see this this is this is where I saw good moments. I ain’t seen it yet from Ashley, but I got you. When I mean I stand corrected. My bad. When you were in this type of dynamic where you’re used to being the guy and then you’re now in this situation where you’re just looking like a guy, right? as a running back, even in my situation as a as a rushing quarterback or a dual threat quarterback, I was not able to really display what I was and capable of until what? Game time. In practice, they don’t hit me. In practice, you don’t really hit running backs, you th them, you don’t really hit them. So, that play when a a guy like Ryan Clark comes out, bang. No, no, no, big dog. In a real game, that bang turns into a bang bah wah wah wah wah. Like, can I ask you a question? Yes, sir. Do you remember your uh your first game? Uh preseason or regular? No, your first your first regular season. Yes, sir. Talk about talk about that game. Uh I had a lot of success. A lot of success, but we lost. I don’t care about losing and winning, right? You’re on a bad team. When they pick you first, you are on a bad football team. But you know what? We knew the moment we watched that film, kid that play quarterback down there, he gonna be something. He got it, right? There’s something about him, right? He’s special. If you draft a running back in the top 10, you have to believe he’s a future Hall of Famer. From a reporter’s perspective, let me tell you what we’re thinking. The second game of the season and you already talking. You already saying it’s game two. It It’s not We’re still in September. And you’re saying, “I think I’m ready for more responsibility. I mean, I don’t think I’m getting enough carries. don’t get 30 carries for 81 yards in two games and he’s talking. Usually in our eyes, rookies are a bit reticent to open their mouth, especially prematurely. The fact that this brother is opening his mouth this early. What are we to make of that? What are you to make of that as teammates? Go ahead, bro. So, listening to what Ashton Genty said, I don’t really have an issue with it. Okay. Because Aster Genty said, he said, “It starts with me and I got to get better.” He’s saying, “I want a bigger workload. I can handle a bigger workload, but I know I have to run the ball well.” I can live with that. He’s not saying, “Hey, this team sucks. They got to get me the ball for me to win. Gino can’t play.” So, I don’t have a problem with that. I have a problem with the self-awareness because even if you only have 30 carries, you can’t average four yards a carry. We can’t get three and a half. Yeah. We can’t we can’t get 120 out of that 30, right? We can’t get 100 out of that 30. Cam, if you turned around and you handed the ball off to a running back in one game 30 times, you’re going to want to look at the stat sheet and say, “Hey, coach, why why are we handing this ball off?” If I give it to him 30 times and we got only 81 yards, I can do something different. Real quick, Cam. Okay, real quick. I’ll tell you. Do y’all know who Derrick Henry is? Okay. because when he got drafted by the uh the Titans and DeMarco Murray and him was the two the the tandem. Well, at that time for a while Derk Henry, he wasn’t the Derrick Henry that we see today. Okay, it’s going to take time. You know what I’m saying? It’s a Thanksgiving meal. This ain’t no hot pocket. You feel what I’m saying? Like you got to understand in this position the more that you’re available when you think about the Christian McCaffries of the world, the Bejon Robinsons, like these guys have the capability to hurt you in many different ways. Well, running the football is going to be a little different in Las Vegas than it was in Boise State. And it’s just going to take time. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Cam Newton and Ryan Clark discuss…

0:00 Dak Prescott’s stats
0:20 Troy Aikman’s comments on Dak Prescott
0:59 Is Dak playing at another level?
5:50 The Raiders’ performance
7:15 Ashton Jeanty’s comments
7:30 Chip Kelly’s comments
8:00 Thoughts on Jeanty
10:25 Why did the Las Vegas Raiders draft Jeanty?
13:05 Can Ashton Jeanty perform?
15:05 How do we feel about Ashton Jeantys’ comments?

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