Tag: Marist Liufau

Major injury to former 3rd-round pick will shake up Cowboys 2025 draft plans

It will take at least two high end players for the Cowboys to replace DeMarvion Overshown in 2025, says @ReidDHanson.

It’s not often a critical December loss brought on by a botched special teams play in the waning moments of a game is only the second most terrible thing to happen to the Cowboys, but in the wake of DeMarvion Overshown’s season ending knee injury, that’s exactly what it is.

The 5-8 Cowboys losing another game, in any fashion, is old hat in Dallas this year. 2024 has been a season to forget and even a recent two-game winning streak couldn’t vault the Cowboys into contender status. Losing one of the youngest and most exciting players to a significant knee injury is unquestionably the headline following Week 14.

After missing all of the 2023 season to an ACL on his other knee, Overshown made it 13 games before a second, even more significant injury did the same in Year 2. The Cowboys were just starting to understand what Overshown could do as an NFL player. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound heatseeking missile established himself as the Cowboys second best pass-rusher, top run stopper and promising coverage man.

Overshown was a man without a position in all the right ways. Reminiscent of Micah Parsons, Overshown served as the Cowboys not-so-secret weapon whose only limitation is the creativity of the coaching staff designing plays for him. With Dak Prescott and Zack Martin already sidelined for the year, the loss of Overshown serves as salt in an already festering wound in Dallas.

Unfortunately, the bad news doesn’t end there. Tears to Overshown’s ACL, MCL, and PCL are said to threaten his entire 2025 season as well. The timing and severity of the injury isn’t something that a simple offseason can cure, and the Cowboys have to operate like their youngest and brightest star may not be back until 2026.

The impact of this from a roster-building perspective is rather significant. As stated earlier, Overshown is a special player who serves multiple roles. The Cowboys can’t expect to fill those roles with just one player but likely need to target two or more in the draft.

Linebacker, the position Overshown is technically listed at, is the obvious draft need for Dallas. Overshown was Dallas’ top LB this season and with Eric Kendricks likely to leave in the offseason, the Cowboys need to add new LBs in a big way this coming draft cycle. Even with the expected ascension of rookie Marist Liufau, the Cowboys need to find at least two high quality replacements through free agency and the draft.

Overshown the pass rusher also needs to be replaced. He was Dallas’ second-best pass rusher this season and was on track to be No. 2 again in 2025 before the injury. Overshown was a pass rusher who could blitz from anywhere and could be moved constantly to exploit mismatches. It’s not something a traditional defensive end can do and it’s not something a normal LB can do either. It’s a role that’s not easily filled and frankly, may never get filled.

With Overshown gone the Cowboys need to find a player with high end speed and sideline-to-sideline range, they need a moveable pass rusher, and they need a fearless run stopper. Best guess is it will take two draft picks just to partially cover the loss of Overshown this spring. With so many needs already on the docket for the 2025 NFL draft, this is terrible news for a team hoping to bounce back next year.

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Cowboys QB fined for defensive effort vs Eagles; LB-on-LB foul also flagged

From @ToddBrock24f7: Trey Lance and Marist Liufau were both fined for plays made late in Week 10’s loss to Philadelphia. Both incidents had an unusual element.

The Cowboys got blown out by the Eagles in Week 10, but two Dallas players are losing a second time, six days after the fact.

Backup quarterback Trey Lance and rookie linebacker Marist Liufau were fined by the league for plays made during the team’s 34-6 defeat, it was announced Saturday.

Lance’s fine came, oddly, from a defensive play the passer made after a possession change. As Philadelphia safety Reed Blankenship returned Jake Ferguson’s fumble early in the fourth quarter, Lance met him near the Cowboys sideline and forced him out of bounds.

The NFL has determined that Lance improperly used his helmet to initiate the contact and fined him $22,511 for unnecessary roughness.

The play did not draw a flag from officials at the time but was notable to many for nearly taking out an already-injured Dak Prescott as he stood on the sideline, perhaps a little too close for the comfort of most observers.

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Liufau drew a $5,749 fine, also for unnecessary roughness, on a play that was unusual in its own right. The rookie was spotted grabbing the facemask of a fellow linebacker, Philadelphia’s Ben Van Sumeren, who was on the field with the Eagles offense as a backfield blocker.

That altercation took place away from the late second-down play and resulted in a penalty flag from officials, the Cowboys’ fifth of Sunday’s contest.

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Cowboys Top-5 2024 draft picks all mentioned in Dane Brugler’s All-Rookie teams after 4 weeks

The Cowboys had more than their fair share of rookies make The Athletic All-Rookie teams through a quarter of the season. | From @KDDrummondNFL

There were 259 players selected in this past April’s NFL draft. Another 350 undrafted free agents signed with teams immediately following the weekend, adding over 600 new faces to NFL rosters. So for the Dallas Cowboys’ haul to have five different rookies be mentioned among the best rookie performers through the first four games of the season is impressive on it’s own.

For them to go five-for-five with their first five picks from the draft in being mentioned among the 90 best rookies identified by The Athletic’s draft guru Dane Brugler is a testament to Will McClay’s scouting department getting back on track in the immediate return department.

Brugler went position by position, identifying who he would name to the All-Rookie team, who would be the runner up and then added a varying number of honorable mentions. And while none of the Cowboys’ picks were named to the quote-unquote first team, they did have a runner up and four players in the honorable mention.

The math is easy; 32 teams, 90 players identified means the average team should have 2 to 3 players mentioned. Dallas had five. Part of that is the big ask being placed on this year’s rookie class to play early. Caelen Carson isn’t mentioned if Daron Bland doesn’t hurt his foot and go on IR. Two rookie OL don’t start if the team didn’t let Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz walk. But the fact remains the Cowboys’ rookie class is acquitting themselves extremely well so far in 2024.

Here’s who ranked where, according to Brugler.

LT Tyler Guyton – Honorable Mention for tackles
C Cooper Beebe – Runner-Up for interior OL
DE Marshawn Kneeland – Runner-Up for edge rushers
LB Marist Liafau – Runner-Up for linebackers
CB Caelen Carson – Runner-Up for cornerbacks

Spy vs Spy: These 3 Cowboys defenders hope to minimize Lamar Jackson’s impact for Ravens

The Cowboys have three spy options for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Week 3. | From @ReidDHanson

The Cowboys are notoriously dreadful against dual-threat quarterbacks. They routinely give up massive gains on scrambles, critical conversions on third downs and undisciplined execution on designed read-options to athletic QBs.

Dallas’ heavy use of man coverage, specifically Cover 1 looks, only compounds the damage since cover cornerbacks are playing with their backs to the QB. These coverages probably won’t change with Mike Zimmer at the helm on defense.

Like Dan Quinn, Zimmer loves man coverage, and given the Ravens propensity to run, coupled with Dallas’ struggles to stop said run, the Cowboys will likely once again lean on Cover 1 in Week 3. That’s because playing with just one deep safety means Dallas gets an extra player in the box which is something the Cowboys could desperately use.

Lamar Jackson, Baltimore’s explosive weapon at the position, isn’t just a good rushing QB, he’s by most accounts the best rushing QB in the NFL. The two-time NFL MVP is lightning fast with the ability to start and stop on a dime. He makes the other dual threats in the NFL look like they’re running in mud.

The Ravens utilize Jackson as one would expect – a runner. They frequently call designed runs, read options, zone reads, and even RPOs with a QB run element attached (RPO’s don’t inherently have run options for QBs attached).

Even the Ravens passing game leaves run options open for Jackson. Tuck-and-run is often his second read on plays so the Dallas defense will have to be prepared for a QB run every single down.

Normally this would spell certain doom for the Cowboys. That’s especially true coming off their embarrassing efforts in Week 2 against the Saints. But the Cowboys have a couple aces up their sleeves that could prove difference makers in Sunday’s showdown. They have DeMarvion Overshown and Marist Liufau.

The Cowboys’ two young linebackers are as explosive as it gets from the LB position. Overshown has a level of click-and-close that makes even Micah Parsons look mortal. Liufau is a hyper intelligent player known to play like his hair on fire for all 60 minutes. Both are positioned to serve as QB spys this Sunday. Both could be the difference maker in the Cowboys ability to stop Jackson.

There’s a debate raging over which one will be tasked with the job. Liufau is typically in base packages while Overshown is in for nickel packages. After shining like a star in Week 1, Overshown took the backseat in Week 2. The reason behind that is the Saints heavy use of 12 and 21 personnel warranted more base packages from Dallas last week.

Week 3 could bring a similar reaction from Zimmer since the Ravens have only played 11 personnel (3WR, which prompts nickel defense) 26.2 percent of the time this season. Unless Zimmer changes his packages, Liufau should expect the bulk of the snaps.

Dallas has also hinted at Parsons doing some spy work. Given Zimmer’s use of complicated and/or deceitful blitz packages, he could very well fake a pass rush and then drop Parsons into a spy role at times on Sunday. Based on what we know, Liufau will likely get the most spy opportunities with Overshown plugged in as a close second. Parsons or even a safety could be used in select situations behind them.

Will it be effective?

That’s anyone’s guess but the Cowboys seem to finally have some solid options on their staff who can successfully fill this role, which is much more than they’ve ever appeared to have in the past. Which spy on the Cowboys will be the biggest difference maker?

Everyone is about to find out.

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These two new Cowboys playmakers join two vets in ‘protect for the long haul’ status

Deep rotations and modest usage rates will be key to keeping Dallas’ most explosive players explosive down the stretch.

The new season is underway, and the Cowboys defense find itself rich in explosive talent. Familiar faces like Micah Parsons and Osa Odighizuwa lived up to their playmaker reputations in Week 1 but new talents like Marist Liufau and DeMarvion Overshown are also flashing as key playmakers for this 2024 campaign.

The quickness and impact of these players cannot be understated. Parsons is widely considered one of, if not, the preeminent pass rusher in the NFL. Odighizuwa is fast becoming one of the league’s top pressure-producing interior defensive linemen. All four are explosive. All four are gamebreakers. All four add a special explosiveness to the Cowboys defense. And all four must be preserved for late in the year.

Liufau was dinged up in Week 1, but the rookie linebacker has shown he’s an explosive second-level defender who has been said to play like his hair is on fire. And Overshown, fresh off an ACL induced redshirt season, appears to be moving at a different speed than the rest of the world.

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Spanning from September through potentially February, the NFL season is a long one. There are 17 regular season games and as many as four postseason games on the slate. Like a marathon, just surviving to the end is a feat onto itself. Players understandably break down.

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In previous years Parsons and Odighizuwa have both seen their production drop as seasons progress. They have been such critical components to the defense coaches have had a hard time taking them off the field to set a more preservation-focused pace.

A similar situation could be facing the two new guys at linebacker as well. Liufau straight from college, and Overshown straight from IR, are two budding star LBs with only one game on their professional resumes. The riggers of a 17+ game season are going to hit hard this year so the question is how much of a toll will it take?

All four playmakers rely heavily on their explosiveness to be difference makers. Take away that explosiveness late in the season and the Cowboys lose one of their most vital elements at a time when games mean most. Deep rotations and modest usage rates will be key to keeping Dallas’ most explosive players explosive down the stretch.

This might sound like a simple ask but there’s nothing simple about it. Overshown and Liufau instantly make the defense faster which impacts both phases of the game. As some of the smartest players on the roster, they fly to the ball. Overshown specifically looks to be shot out of cannon when in pursuit, doing things other players simply cannot.

Quick play at the second level is critical in stopping dual-threat quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels and Daniel Jones. Those four alone represent 44 percent of the remaining games on the Cowboys regular season schedule. It’s going to be hard putting Overshown on a snap count in these games but for the long-term interest of the club, it’s necessary.

Same goes for Parsons and Odighizuwa. Parsons is by far Dallas’ best edge rusher and with Sam Williams already out for the season, it will be difficult for Mike Zimmer to reduce his snaps. For the good of the postseason, he must. Odighizuwa is by far the Cowboys top interior pass rusher, yet Zimmer must find a way to do the same. He needs late season Odighizuwa looking like early season Odighizuwa and for that to happen, he probably needs a lower pitch count early.

The Cowboys have to find a way to make their January look different this season. They need to keep their eye on prize and that means doing things in the early season so they can be at their best late in the season.

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Playing for hated college team will help Cowboys rookie LB ‘cut it loose’ as Week 1 starter in Cleveland

From @ToddBrock24f7: Having played in the country’s most intimidating venues with Notre Dame should help Marist Liufau be unfazed by Cleveland’s Dawg Pound.

It’s now just a few days until he makes his NFL debut, but Marist Liufau sure seems like anything but a wide-eyed rookie. The third-round draft pick has already been penciled in as one of the starting linebackers for the Dallas Cowboys in Sunday’s regular-season opener in Cleveland.

And with all due respect to the venerable Dawg Pound, nothing the newly-renamed Huntington Bank Field can throw at him is likely to faze the 23-year-old Liufau. He did, after all, see his very first college snaps as a visitor between the fabled hedges in Athens, Georgia. Then over his tenure with the Fighting Irish came road contests at The Big House in Ann Arbor, The Horseshoe in Columbus, L.A. Memorial Coliseum, and Clemson’s Death Valley: some of the biggest and most awe-inspiring settings in the nation for a college player.

“You either love Notre Dame or you hate them, so everywhere we go on the road, everyone hates us, ” Liufau told reporters this week at The Star. “That’s helped me to grow as a player and kind of handle those environments and sort it out.”

So Liufau’s nonchalant approach to his first game week as a pro is perhaps to be expected.

“I really just take every day and treat it like it’s game day,” he said, “so that when I get to the actual environment, it’s really easy.”

In fact, most everything has seemingly come easy for the native-born Hawaiian since joining the Cowboys. Liufau is just one part of a larger defensive overhaul engineered by new coordinator Mike Zimmer, but the rookie reveals that despite the brain-bending learning curve that comes with learning the NFL ropes- as well as an entirely new playbook- his DC has given him very simple instructions for his pro debut.

“Especially for me, Coach Zim would just say to me, ‘Just cut it loose,'” Liufau explained. “Let him do the thinking, and when we get to game time, just go out there and have fun.”

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The fun has apparently already started in practice. Head coach Mike McCarthy let it slip recently that Liufau could be seen seen grinning ear-to-ear behind his facemask as new defensive tackle additions Linval Joseph and Jordan Phillips were making their presence known on several run plays during drills. Shutting down the ground game this season will no doubt be a focus for Liufau and his linebackermates, a job that should made somewhat easier with 670 pounds of experienced run-stuffing beef in front of them.

“Having great D-linemen in front of linebackers is, it’s everything, really,” Liufau confirmed.

“Any time we step onto the field, it’s really trying to prove that we’re a top defense in the NFL.”

If Liufau is able to help the Dallas defense do that with a strong debut showing in Cleveland, much of the credit, he says, will go to the Cowboys coaches staff. More intense film study and opponent-specific prep work, he’s found, is one of the major differences in making the transition from college- even a big-time program- to the pros.

“The detail that coaches go through to get, really, the game plan to us, detailing out the personnel for us, what our opponent likes to do,” he offered by way of example. “Also, the attention to detail from the players is next-level. Everyone is being intentional with what they’re doing out there on the field and in the meeting room.”

Liufau is confident that very intentional approach will translate to a business-as-usual NFL debut versus the Browns in their own house on Sunday, even if it’s all brand new to the fresh-faced rookie.

As new as, say, Liufau’s first-ever college tailgating experience, which took place just this past weekend when his alma mater paid a visit to yet another intimidating football mecca, Texas A&M’s Kyle Field.

“It was very fun,” Liufau reported.

He said it with a smile.

But just wait until he makes his first tackle in front of the Dawg Pound.

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LOOK: Every snap from Cowboys rookie LB Marist Liufau (Notre Dame) pro debut

An All-22 look at the Notre Dame linebacker’s pro debut in which he logged 16 snaps. | From @KDDrummondNFL

When the Dallas Cowboys traded back in the first round and acquired another third-round selection, draftniks everywhere rejoiced. Dallas didn’t do much in free agency, so grabbing a fourth top-100 prospect was paramount to many fans who still pay close attention in the offseason.

Both the later first and the new third-round pick were used on offensive linemen and the pick sandwiched in between went to defensive end. Those two position groups were where free agency defections happened. It was the final top 100 pick where there was a true conversation to which direction Dallas would take things. Dallas chose to go with Notre Dame linebacker Marist Liufau.

Liufau was selected over running back, seen as a need if the Cowboys wanted a premiere player to replace Tony Pollard who also left in free agency. Replacing Leighton Vander Esch, who retired due to injury, won out for the Dallas front office.

Reports throughout the offseason have indicated Dallas is pleased with their selection. Thanks to their biggest free agent signing (Eric Kendricks) allowing third-year man Damone Clark to no longer be in charge of the group, and return from injury of last year’s third-round pick DeMarvion Overshown, Liufau rounds out what now could be a strength of the defense.

That’s an amazing turnaround considering the state of the unit in January. But Liufau, like all the rest, will have to play well in games that matter. And while the preseason scores and stats don’t count, performing well there is the necessary first step.

In the exhibition opener, Liufau saw 16 defensive snaps and recorded a single assist with no solo tackles. Pro Football Focus credited one pass into his coverage, a completion for 11 yards, in giving him a 58.5 (out of 100) defensive grade.

It’s difficult for fans to hone in on any one player while watching the action live, so this complete All-22 collection from Dustin Mosher will allow those interested to see his entire performance.

Cowboys NFL Draft grades: Marist Liufau, LB, Notre Dame

Cowboys NFL Draft grade for selecting Notre Dame LB Marist Liufau in the third round

The Dallas Cowboys headed into the offseason having a glaring need to improve their rushing defense and depth in a fragile linebacker room. They accomplished both of their goals in the third round with the selection of Notre Dame linebacker Marist Liufau.

Liufau does not project as a starter right away and will need to sit behind talented veterans Damone Clark and newly signed Eric Kendricks. Liufau will have a great opportunity to grow behind the two starters and could see the field as early as next season.

Possessing great length, strength, and enough agility to keep up with tight ends, Liufau should help Dallas stick their nose in the box and plug up what was a vulnerable rushing defense. Liufau does have some limitations in his technique and instincts that do run the risk of him never fully snagging a starting position, but with time and good coaching, he has the physical tools to make it.

Grade: C+

‘Sky is the limit’: Cowboys rookie Marist Liufau gets early approval from fellow LB

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 3rd-round draft pick has been praised for his football IQ. Fellow linebacker Damone Clark raved about his motor one day into minicamp.

Marist Liufau hasn’t even earned a star decal for the side of his helmet yet, but one day into minicamp, the Cowboys rookie has already gotten rave reviews from one of his fellow linebackers.

The third-round draft pick out of Notre Dame was called a reach by some draft analysts, many of whom felt that Dallas should have used the 87th overall selection on a running back. But since his arrival, the Hawaiian-born Liufau has impressed Cowboys coaches with his intelligence, and now his teammates are seeing it first-hand, too.

“He’s a sponge,” third-year linebacker Damone Clark said Tuesday, per Patrik Walker of dallascowboys.com. “He asks a lot of questions. He goes out there and does everything 110 percent. He gives his all on every play, and the sky is the limit for him. Marist is going to be one of them ones.”

The team is counting on it. The Cowboys’ new linebacker corps- under the leadership of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer in his first year back on the job- will be anchored by veteran Eric Kendricks, who just joined the club in March. Clark led all Dallas ‘backers (except for Micah Parsons, who is only technically a linebacker on paper) with nearly 800 defensive snaps last year, but he’s just 23 and still developing. And second-year project DeMarvion Overshown has yet to take the field in a real game.

So Liufau figures to have a real opportunity to make an impact as a rookie. Zimmer said as much in May, when he hinted to The Doomsday Podcast that Liufau could be deployed in much the same way as Parsons.

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“Number one, he’s brilliant,” Zimmer told podcast hosts Matt Mosely and Ed Werder. “He catches on really quick. He wants to be so good and so intense that he’s almost too much at it right now. The other thing is I think he’s a really good pressure player, and I think having that with Parsons and another pressure player that is a linebacker, he can move somewhere else and Parsons can move somewhere else. I think those pieces add to confusion for the offense. Plus, he’s a really good rusher.”

It’s still early for the rookie, but after one day of mandatory minicamp, Damone Clark seems to agree.

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Rookie Cowboys LB Marist Liufau may be relegated to riding pine to start

Marist Liufau may not fit into a top role immediately in 2024 but he’s going to serve an important role on the Cowboys. | From @ReidDHanson

In the NFL, top-100 draft picks are like gold. Selections inside the top three rounds are expected to be key contributors, if not instant starters. They are the building blocks of the roster which often dictate a team’s success in both the short-term and long-term.

The Cowboys take a balanced approach to their use of top-100 picks most years. They have a solid hit rate overall but also have a track record of some wild gambles. In the 2024 NFL draft the Cowboys raised eyebrows when they selected a rarely discussed linebacker prospect over positions of seemingly greater need like running back and defensive tackle.

Marist Liufau, their selection at No. 87, was an overdraft according to consensus boards. He was also a tough fit in the starting lineup. If the Cowboys had drafted a RB or DT, the player would likely face a much clearer path to a starting role. The decision was met with uproar from an already annoyed fanbase. Now with recent news indicating Liufau may be no better than LB4 when the new season breaks, frustration is again beginning to bubble up in Cowboys Nation.

As Jon Machota reported from OTAs, Eric Kendricks will be in the middle at MIKE while DeMarvion Overshown and Damone Clark flank him at WILL and SAM, respectively. It leaves the rookie Liufau on the outside looking in and outsiders wondering why the Cowboys wasted a top-100 pick on a depth piece.

The Cowboys took a special approach to their roster building in 2024.

They saw the mistakes they made in the past and took action to correct it. After years of paying league-high amounts to the RB position, Dallas pulled back and took a new place at the bottom of the NFL. After a season where their LB depth was a major issue, they invested in long-term moldable talent to support the physicality of the position.

Position value played an enormous role in their decision making and since they considered Liufau a special player and the RB position a spot that can be filled with replacement-level players, they went with a player who might start the season as nothing more than a special teamer.

Let’s be clear – Liufau is just as much about the present as he is about the future.  LB is a brutal position and requires rotations and depth to properly operate. Given the lack of girth the Cowboys have in their defensive interior, the LB corps is likely in for added abuse as offensive linemen break through to meet them at the second level.

It’s no small thing the Cowboys appear to be cross training their LB room as well. Clark is best on the outside but he has experience at all three posts. Overshown missed his rookie season but wore the green dot in training camp last season and could fill in at MIKE if called upon. Liufau has instant MIKE and WILL flex. He’s one of the smarter prospects of his draft class and should be able to help to relieve either position as a rookie.

Since Mike Zimmer plays primarily nickel defense, there are only two true starting LB positions on his defense, but rotations and injury replacements make it a position Dallas has to be deep at and Liufau gives the Cowboys depth and a little bit more.

The Cowboys may come to regret their carefree approach to the RB position but the way they handled LB was important to the health and wellness of the defense.

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