There’s good news and bad news: The good news is the Cowboys new defensive coordinator wants to fix an issue that plagued the defense in 2023. The bad news is the perfect solution on the roster may not be returning.
When asked about the Cowboys most obvious change under Zimmer in 2024, both Nick Eatman and Patrik Walker pointed to the linebacker position. It’s a sentiment echoed by many in the industry, refencing Zimmer’s time in Minnesota and previous stops in Cincinnati and Dallas many years prior.
Zimmer likes big LBs. He likes guys who can hit, fill gaps, and keep passing windows narrow. He likes smart guys who know their assignments and execute their assignments. No guess work. No hero ball.
Truth be told, long and rangy LBs have never truly fallen out of fashion in the NFL but as the potency of the passing game has increased, so too has the prioritization of speed and coverage. This prioritization has paved the way for undersized LBs and even tweeners to break through. Look no further than Markquese Bell and Jayron Kearse who served tweener roles in Dallas under Dan Quinn.
Yet, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction, and in the NFL that means offenses have taken notice of all the undersized players in the box and adapted accordingly. While the passing game is still king in the NFL, the running the ball is back en vogue.
Shanahan offenses in particular have been masters of running the ball behind various personnel mismatches. And it’s no secret offenses stemming from the Shanahan coaching tree have had high degree of success against the Cowboys in both phases of the game.
Zimmer, on the other hand, has been successful against those Shanahan offenses and one of the reasons why is the linebackers he uses within his system aren’t easy mismatched in the running game or liabilities in the passing game.
I didn't bother to make this chart nice, so I'll just lead with how I interpret it:
Further right = Better underlying pass defense results against the Shanahan tree of playcallers since 2017
Further up = Better results against all other offenses (over a much > sample) pic.twitter.com/DLan7zAT3s
— Cowboys Stats & Graphics (@CowboysStats) February 2, 2024
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, the LB that best fits Zimmer’s brand of LB play is none other than Leighton Vander Esch. Vander Esch, 6-foot-4, 256-pounds, is Dallas biggest LB and also arguably the most disciplined. The veteran playmaker is the leader of the unit in both brains and brawn. After he fell to injury last season the falloff in play was significant. Not just from his vacated spot but in the play across the LB ranks.
It’s that very injury which may prevent the 28-year-old from returning to field. While everything is pure speculation at this point, Vander Esch has a history of serious back/neck injuries and suffers from cervical spinal stenosis. Jerry Jones indicated Vander Esch’s long-term future was in jeopardy when the Cowboys placed him on IR last season, and nothing said publicly since has indicated otherwise.
Fixing the LB issue in Dallas is going to take some work. It’s not just a one or two man overhaul but potentially an overhaul of the entire unit. That’s not to say there isn’t optimism around DeMarvion Overshown or Damone Clark, but even they come with risk and varying degrees on concern in regards to size, experience, and discipline.
One thing is clear – before any LB overhaul can find success the Cowboys have to fix their issues on the defensive line. A LB is only as good as the lineman in front of him so it’s important the Cowboys find something in free agency to shore up the middle. Luckily for them this is a strong DT free agent class.
The Cowboys have the perfect Zimmer LB on the roster. Unfortunately, there’s a better than zero chance he’ll never play the game again.
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