A Dallas Cowboys football blog

Leighton Vander Esch may prove to be most important piece to Dallas’ D

8 Comments

What more can a defensive unit ranked in the top 10 overall and number 1 in takeaways the past two seasons do?

Most fans would say there’s still some meat on the bone, especially in the run defense area.

Nevertheless, Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn continues to add a little more each game, each season, to disrupt the flow of the opposition’s offense.

We know what the team added on that side of the ball to raise their game—no need to spend too much time there.

We know what Micah Parsons and the pass rushers represent.

The backend, including Trevon Diggs and Stephon Gilmore, could be a no-fly zone.

That leaves us with the linebackers led by Leighton Vander Esch. The injuries surrounding this unit make you worry, and rightfully so. However, I’m here to argue that Vander Esch could make a leap and not for the reasons one would suspect.

1st Round Pick Leighton Vander Esch Returns to Practice, How Much Should He Play at Panthers?
Aug 17, 2018; Oxnard, CA, USA: Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (55) during training camp at River Ridge Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Leighton Vander esch finally has some size in front of him

You’re probably thinking to yourself, this isn’t some novel idea. Having defensive tackles who can eat up blockers in front of you is football 101.

I want to dig a little deeper than that.

Does anyone remember the 2013 Seattle Seahawks? I’m sure you do. They went on to win the Super Bowl and create the Legion of Boom.

In 2014, we saw the second season of the connection between Quinn and All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner. Under Quinn’s tutelage that season, Wagner became a Pro Bowler, All-Pro, and Defensive Player of the Year.

Let’s park there for a second and clear the air. I’m not saying Leighton will one day earn those accolades. It isn’t very likely.

However, Wagner had something that Leighton finally has, which is guys with size and grit in front of him.

Quinn had the pieces (Brandon Mebane, Tony McDaniel, Kevin Williams, Cliff Avril, and Michael Bennett) that allowed Bobby to do precisely what he wanted. They weren’t superstar talent, but they were lunch pail type of guys that did handled their assignments.

Dallas assembled a similar rotation of talent (Hankins, Mazi, Osa) where the former Boise State product will be free to do what he does best: roam and hunt.

Men lie, women lie but numbers don’t

According to Pro Football Focus, Leighton Vander Esch’s progress as a player since 2020 is trending in the right direction.

Each statistical metric you look at is better in the three years.

His overall defensive rating was 60.2, 63.5, and 70.8. His tackling rating went from 56.5 to 79.7 in 2022. The coverage results – yes, that went up from – 42.2 to 75.6.

It’s undeniable that his play has improved. If you don’t subscribe to the analytical, I can respect that. I wasn’t always a zombie to the numbers as well. However, the more you dig into it, the more you realize he is still a young linebacker with some development left in the tank.

Lastly and most importantly was the improvement in the missed tackles. That percentage decreased from 13.2% to 6.5%.

So, while I would have loved to snag Bobby Wagner, Tremaine Edmunds, or Roquan Smith (for draft capital), we didn’t get those guys. But we have Leighton, who was sorely missed last season when we had to rely strictly on his new running mate Damone Clark.

Granted, Clark was just getting back in the swing of things, but we had a noticeable hole in the middle of the defense (no pun intended).

Even still, the future remains bright for these linebackers in Dallas, and Leighton isn’t afraid to stand in the spotlight.

Jermaine Arvie (born January 14, 1981) is life-long Dallas Cowboys fan from Louisiana. He has a Bachelors of Science degree in Finance and currently serves as a Senior Manager within a Fortune 50 corporation. Jermaine has written for Fansided as a Paid Contributor and now serves as a Junior Writer for Inside The Star, a site dedicated to Dallas Cowboys' talk year around. He currently resides in the Mansfield Texas area. Jermaine believes in family, faith and football. His social media outlets are included below. Feel free to reach out to him directly to talk football.

Follow this author:

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

8 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments