Weekend Cowboys Riffing - sorting out the workload at linebacker
208 days since the final game of last season, two days since training camp opened in Oxnard, and just 44 days until the Week 1 game at Carolina at 3:25 pm. Sean Lee wasn’t getting younger and Jaylon Smith may never be the true three-down, all-situation, no-weakness tackling machine we all saw in college. Back then, when sub-packages weren’t used, offenses were in 21 personnel most of the time and defense matched up with a “base defense” which always was a “front seven” and four-man secondary. Garrett mentioned it again yesterday, “You know he’s not a defensive end, put his hand on the ground, I mean that’s a whole different level, as a linebacker, putting him on the line of scrimmage, or as a linebacker coming through an A gap or a B gap, I think he’s demonstrated that really throughout his career and I think it goes to all the things you like about him as a player, his athleticism, his quickness, his speed and his instincts.” I think he can do it. It seems the Cowboys picked Vander Esch to cover themselves in case of a disaster at linebacker – and ultimately they envisioned him replacing Sean Lee when the All-Pro linebacker’s career winds down.
Discover Related
Travis Hunter is skipping workouts at Colorado’s pro day
Chargers free agent offensive lineman has Jim Harbaugh thinking big
Sam Farmer’s NFL mock draft 2.0: Need for QBs will create some surprises
Lions add run-stuffing DT Roy Lopez with $4.65 million, one-year agreement, AP source says
McNeese and Lamar play for Southland Championship
Chargers add cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, bring back two key linebackers
Seahawks sign LB Ernest Jones IV to a 3-year, $28.5 million contract
Eagles send Gardner-Johnson to Texans. Vikings bolster offensive, defensive lines in NFL free agency
Commanders land LT Laremy Tunsil in blockbuster trade with Texans: Source