"Every time a linebacker comes up with the Dallas Cowboys, the conversation immediately turns to speed, upside, and highlight plays. And why wouldn't it? Doesn't everyone want that type of player roaming the second level? I would love for the Cowboys to get that in the first, but if that player isn't available, I'm not chasing and overdrafting. I would chase a linebacker later in the draft."
"The kind of player the Cowboys are missing at the second level is a Leighton Vander Esch type, when he was at his best, not the injury-riddled player. This isn't about nostalgia, this is about a role, a type of player who can stabilize the middle of the defense that Dallas keeps pretending it can live without. When Vander Esch was right, the defense worked because it had structure. He would line guys up, he could stop the run."
"Since then, the Cowboys have chased traits: speed, athleticism, and upside. What they haven't replaced is that calming presence in the middle. I am all for Sonny Styles or Arvell Reese if they're available at 12 or 20, but let's start this conversation after round one. No second or third round pick means the Cowboys do not need to be overdrafting a linebacker and expecting him to be a savior."
Dallas has prioritized linebackers with speed, athleticism, and upside but lacks a steady, high-IQ MIKE who stabilizes the middle like Leighton Vander Esch at his best. A steady presence in the middle organizes the defense, stops the run, and prevents small mistakes from becoming explosive plays. The solution is not to overdraft in Round 1; the team can find a high-floor linebacker on Day Three who understands the position and preserves defensive structure. The 2026 linebacker class contains mid-round prospects who mirror that archetype, and Jake Golday emerges as a realistic fourth-round target.
Read at Inside The Star
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