Eric Kendricks is set to lead the Dallas Cowboys linebackers this season.
The Dallas Cowboys never stood a chance against the Green Bay Packers. We obviously didn’t know this ahead of time, but all of Dan Quinn’s former disciples did. Matt LaFleur deployed heavy personnel over and over and over again to push Quinn’s defenders around due to not having the size to hang. Safeties playing linebacker are always going to be in for a long day when tight ends are getting out to them in space.
Defending the run has been an issue for the Cowboys for several years now and one that the drafting of defensive tackle Mazi Smith was supposed to help resolve. Oops.
But linebacker play is of critical importance in this regard as well and was a huge talking point around this team once the offseason began. Who and how the Cowboys play there is of great interest to all of us so we are going to take a look at the group overall in the latest installment of our roster breakdown series.
Here are all of the position groups that we have discussed so far.
All told the linebacker group received a new name by way of free agency, has a returning player that we are all excited about and was given a top 100 pick in the NFL Draft.
It may not feel like it but that is a lot of change.
Eric Kendricks
Gone is Leighton Vander Esch (retired, all the best to him) and in is Eric Kendricks. Despite the fact that Kendricks reportedly agreed to terms with the San Francisco 49ers, he appears to have been one of the top choices of the Cowboys throughout the free agency process.
It made all the sense in the world for Dallas to pursue Kendricks given his history with new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Having a brain on the field so to speak is a great thing in general, but especially in a world where the defense is new for everyone.
Ultimately Kendricks is the right person for this specific role given all circumstances involved. He is an older veteran in the way that LVE was, but Vander Esch was quietly extremely valuable for the team over the last few years, particularly at stopping the run. This is not just a swapping of sorts, there is a legitimate role to replace, and given that Kendricks was the marquee free agent signing of the offseason for the Cowboys, he has to live up to it or everything else could come tumbling down.
Damone Clark
There is no question that we saw the best football of Damone Clark’s career last year, even in a season where Dan Quinn experimented so much at linebacker. He shocked us all by playing during his rookie season and properly improved upon it and now we are at a point where we need to see another step.
How much of an opportunity there will be for Clark sort of remains to be seen as the Cowboys will likely give opportunities to DeMarvion Overshown to earn his place and share of snaps (more on him in a moment). Competition is a good thing though, especially at a position that was a serious weakness a season ago.
As things relate to Clark though he was stellar at LSU and seems to be finding his proper footing at the next level. Whoever ultimately wins out to fight alongside Eric Kendricks in the heart of the defense that there is some legitimate depth now is what matters the most.
DeMarvion Overshown
The X-Factor at linebacker is without a doubt DeMarvion Overshown. If he hits, we are in business.
Banking on that idea is a dangerous game though as Overshown has never played an actual NFL game. Obviously he was great throughout training camp and what we saw of him in the preseason a year ago, but on top of having no legitimate NFL experience he is also returning from a torn ACL. Nothing is ever guaranteed there.
Still Overshown showed immense promise a year ago and the Cowboys are known for letting their eyes be bigger than their stomachs in that sense from time to time.
How lucky are you feeling?
We will be dropping videos breaking down position groups on the Dallas Cowboys roster every Tuesday and Thursday for the next few weeks as we get closer and closer to training camp. Make sure to subscribe to the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel (which you can do right here) so you do not miss any of them.
Marist Liufau
First of all, it should be noted given the photos here that every returning player we have discussed so far has changed jersey numbers for this season. DeMarvion Overshown is set to wear 13 while Damone Clark is now in 18, this is why Maris Liufau is wearing 35.
To the point, we have said enough that we need to about the Cowboys not drafting a running back, but that they didn’t was because they clearly felt like they just had to have Marist Liufau before the third round was completed. We need to see why they clearly felt like they had to have Marist Liufau.
Given that the Cowboys are reverting to more traditional linebacker play under Mike Zimmer it makes sense that they would want qualified bodies to fill the position out. Liufau likely won’t see the field all too much as a rookie but should be a valuable part of the special teams group.
Damien Wilson
We’re giving Damien Wilson a bit of love with his own little discussion section based on the fact that he has a long history with the team. That Dallas brought him back suggests that they particularly enjoy him.
A big theme of our discussion today has been depth and Wilson provides that in serious fashion. He has been around the block in the NFL and operated in several defensive schemes. He is trustworthy and has a higher floor than the inexperienced players. Perhaps he has something to offer in this latest go-around with the Cowboys.
It’s tough to see Dallas not carrying Wilson when they finalize their roster ahead of the regular season. Obviously if somebody pops and makes the conversation difficult then it becomes a different story, but for now assume Wilson finds a way to earn a locker at The Star.
The rest of the group
Everybody else listed here is facing a bit of a steep climb towards making the roster and that is the way that these things tend to go. So much of what we are going to see from the linebacker group in general is going to depend on exactly how Mike Zimmer wants to utilize them and we clearly do not know that in totality quite yet.
Can Willie Harvey, Buddy Johnson, Jason Johnson or Brock Mogensen find a way to give the Cowboys a tough decision on their roster? That seems unlikely.
But you never know with this kind of thing, particularly if somebody does manage to catch Zimmer’s attention under the Oxnard sun.
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