When the Cowboys announced the 90th overall pick in the third round of last week’s draft very few people knew they’d made a prophet out of a third grader in Arp, Texas. DeMarvion Overshown had predicted all the way back then that he’d someday play football for Dallas. Dallas made it happen last Friday evening.
Overshown, who uses the handle, AGENT0__, shared an image on his twitter feed verifying the prediction. According to the University of Texas’ football website, Overshown is the 12thLonghorn to be drafted by the Cowboys.
When he graduated from Arp High – located near Tyler – he was a highly ranked safety. He moved to linebacker after arriving in Austin, though he did play the position in his senior year at Arp. He struggled his first two seasons but blossomed when the Longhorns hired Steve Sarkisian to lead the program.
Agent 0 Rises
In 2021 – Sarkisian’s first year in Austin — he had 54 tackles, one sack, two passes defended, two fumbles recovered and one block. In 2022, he collected 96 tackles – 10 for a loss – four sacks and five passes defended.
His best game of his final campaign came against the Baylor Bears on Nov. 25th. He tormented the Bears with 14 tackles – two for a loss — and a sack in a 38-27 victory.
It was Overshown’s final Big 12 game and his final collegiate game as he opted out of playing in the Alamo Bowl. The Longhorns’ running back tandem of Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson had also opted out of the game, a 27-20 loss to then No. 12 Washington.
Overshown, like Robinson and Johnson, had his sights on his pro career. Coming into the draft he was projected to go in the third round. Now that he’s in the NFL, and with the Cowboys, what position he’s projected to play remains to be seen.
A Safety, A Linebacker, Or Something Else?
His current height and weight – 6’-2” and 220 pounds – puts him on par with current Cowboys’ safety Jayron Kearse. The closest he is in size and build to any of the linebackers would be fellow Texas alum, Malik Jefferson. Overshown would need to add somewhere between 15-25 pounds to catch up to Micah Parsons, Anthony Barr or Leighton Vander Esch.
Will Cowboys’ defensive coordinator Dan Quinn move Overshown back to safety? He helped lead the Tigers of Arp to the semifinals of the 2016 Conference 3A D2 playoffs as a junior free safety. Or will he play at linebacker opposite Parsons? Could he be a type of hybrid instead?
Overshown will arrive in camp with those questions hanging over him as he find his place on the team. It should be interesting to watch as it plays out, despite some of the post-draft naysayers.
A few of the “experts” rated this draft pick poorly. But nearly all of them likely never watched a down to Longhorns’ football this year, unless it was to watch Bijan Robinson rushing the ball. Agent 0, Overshown’s nickname in addition to the number he wore at Texas, is going to surprise a lot of people.
Agent 0 Meet Agent 35
He’ll have some work to do before taking the practice field however, if he wants to keep the number that matches his moniker. The NFL is finally allowing players to wear the number 0 on their jersey.
Overshown’s problem is that its been taken already. His fellow linebacker and former Longhorn, Jefferson is currently listed as #0. He’ll have to bargain with a veteran, and the team, to get his number back.
The Cowboys may have tipped their hand on his positional future when they assigned Overshown and his fellow rookies their numbers for next week’s rookie camp. Overshown will wear the number 35, a number usually assigned to players in the backfield on the defensive side, not linebackers.
No matter the number on his jersey, Agent 0 is definitely living the dream.
