OXNARD, Calif. — Nothing is being handed to Cooper Beebe, but that's not stopping him from working his ass off to try and take it. Despite getting the nod as one of the Dallas Cowboys' two third-round picks from the 2024 NFL Draft, he's being forced to earn his way into the role of starting center after being converted to the position from guard, where he dominated at Kansas State.
Three words: trust the process.
"I think I'm doing pretty well," said Beebe following the second scrimmage against the Rams, where he earned first-team reps at center for the first time. " … Going against their best guys helps and continues to prepare me for those looks versus those top guys — it's invaluable."
Having drawn a mountain of praise from head coach Mike McCarthy and players alike for how quickly he's come along, Beebe is acing the eye test and without a No. 2 pencil.
That exam included his first-ever preseason matchup in the NFL, where he put a lot of good on film against the Rams. With the butterflies of his first official game out of the way, the rest of his cocoon can now begin shedding, and has.
"When I went out there for my first preseason game, it was surreal," he said. "… Getting that experience under my belt was a dream come true."
He settled in nicely on Aug. 11, including with his declarations at the line of scrimmage, and it's not as if seeing Cowboys' legend and former center Travis Frederick patrolling practice in Oxnard added any pressure.
OK, of course it did, but it served as added motivation and, if early film is any indication, it worked.
"Obviously, once you get in a game it's easier," Beebe said. "The playbook shortens down and it gets easier, but I think I've been doing well. There are some weird looks here and there that I've got to continue working on but, overall, I think I'm doing pretty well."
To achieve the mission against a worthy teammate in Brock Hoffman, which is still incomplete heading into their second preseason game, this time against the Las Vegas Raiders, Beebe truly needed to perfect his ability to snap the ball before he could be viewed as a viable starting center in the NFL — something he struggled with at the start of training camp in Oxnard, consistency-wise.
But with a combination of offseason relentlessness that included snapping in the yard to his mom and family and the added work he's put in outside of practice in South California, he's already so far along in the process that he looks comfortable; and he's not overthinking anymore.
Again, objectively speaking, he's worked his ass off.
"It's become second nature," said the former Unanimous All-American. "I just know that unless they say something to me, it was a good snap. I really don't worry about it anymore."
Learning from a future first ballot Hall of Famer in Zack Martin doesn't hurt, nor does the fact Martin mans the post directly next to Beebe — allowing for real-time advice and adjustments from one of the best to ever play the game.
The relationship between the two is off to a great start, and Beebe credits the nine-time All-Pro as being a key reason for not only his progress, but also with how swiftly it's occurring.
"The biggest thing is [he shows me] how to be a pro, how to take care of your body, how to study film and the things he looks for," said Beebe. "It's that kind of stuff, and just little stuff people don't think about that makes the biggest difference. I think, for me, it's how consistent he is with his sets and how he carries his hands.
"With him, every rep is the same and that's the reason he's great — consistency."
And that has, thus far, been what McCarthy and the Cowboys have been waiting to see from Beebe before awarding him first-team reps in training camp and in preseason games.
He's not taken their faith in him lightly. His work ethic has been blue collar, and it's creating a very bright silver lining to his early camp hiccups.
And that's perfect, considering blue and silver are … well … you get it.
"At the end of the day, I control how things go," Beebe explained, standing firmly in his self-confidence. "I have to continue to work and continue to get better. It's my hands how things go. … [During the preseason opener] I was a little nervous but you get through that first play, you realize it's just football.
"It's something I've been doing my entire life and that's why it's comfortable for me."
It's definitely made easier by the fact he played defensive line in high school, not unlike how Trevon Diggs parlayed his days as wide receiver into becoming a record-setting NFL cornerback.
"It helps a lot," said Beebe. "You figure out what defenders are trying to do and how they're trying to attack you, and those different things. I definitely see some of their techniques that I used when I played defensive tackle that I look out for now that I'm an offensive lineman."
There's a very real chance that Beebe will join fellow rookie and first-round pick Tyler Guyton as Day 1 starters when the Cowboys travel to face the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 8 and, if so, it'll mark one of the rare occasions in which Dallas will feature two rookies (and a Hall of Famer) on the same offensive line to begin a season.
It's a good thing Beebe's chemistry doesn't simply flow to his right to Martin, but also to and through Tyler Smith to his left and outwardly toward Guyton; and both Guyton and Beebe have been training this offseason with offensive line guru Duke Manyweather of OL Masterminds.
The bond is there, and it's real.
"Oh, that's my guy!" he said excitedly of Guyton. "We met up in college. Obviously, he played at [Oklahoma] and I was at [Kansas State] so we've known each other for a while, and to get drafted to the same place? We were clicking right away."
There is no shortage of pressure on Beebe to get up to speed, and while it's not nearly as much as the amount that rests on the shoulders of Guyton, Beebe doesn't view it that way. To him, he has the same level of responsibility as does Guyton, regardless of draft status.
Plenty of work remains for Beebe and it will honestly never stop, just ask Martin, but he's opening plenty of eyes to begin his professional career with the Cowboys.
The bottom line is Beebe is getting it out of the dirt, while putting more and more defenders in it.
-------------------------------------
The Cowboys will host 2024 "Cowboys Night," presented by American Airlines, at The Star in Frisco on Aug. 27-28. For more details visit www.DallasCowboys.com/TrainingCamp.
