Tag: Neville Gallimore

Cowboys News: Pollard primed, Pro Bowl snubs, playoff pushing

The NFCCE is coming down to the wire, the Cowboys lose another defensive starter to injury, and the biggest storylines for Dallas vs Philly.

No Dallas Cowboys made the Pro Bowl for the first time in 31 years meaning there were a few snubs. Leighton Vander Esch could potentially miss the remainder of the year with a high ankle sprain. Does Tony Pollard have a case for the best back in Dallas, and how will the team utilize their running backs moving forward?

The Cowboys picked up their first back-to-back wins of the 2020 season when they defeated the San Francisco 49ers last weekend and a number of other young prospects played well. The win kept Dallas alive in the NFC East playoff race, making this Sunday’s showdown with Philadelphia that much more meaningful.

Cowboys’ Gallimore continues to flash in rookie campaign

Once Gerald McCoy was waived and Dontari Poe was released Neville Gallimore was given the opportunity to step up, and he’s done just that.

The Dallas Cowboys picked up a much-needed win against the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday but perhaps more importantly, several young players performed well. Safety Donovan Wilson logged his first career interception, running back Tony Pollard racked up 132 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb pulled within 177 yards of breaking Bob Hayes’ franchise rookie receiving record of 1,003 yards.

There was another young stud who flashed, but in the trenches. Rookie defensive tackle Neville Gallimore continued to show why he was taken in the third round with his best performance of 2020.

Two plays in particular stood out for Gallimore on Sunday. The first came at the end of the first quarter.

On first and goal he does an unbelievable job of using his speed to split the right guard and right tackle and stuffed running back Raheem Mostert for a three-yard loss.

The next big play came late in the third quarter with the Cowboys clinging to a 24-17 lead. On 2nd-and-8 from inside the 20, Gallimore again shows off great speed and also technique with a stutter step and swim move on the center, splitting him and the right guard and batting down a pass to force a third and long.

Gallimore finished with a season-high five tackles (one tackle for loss), a pass deflection, and a quarterback hit.

This isn’t the first time Gallimore has shown he can be a big-time contributor on the Cowboys defense.

In his second career start against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 9, he graded out as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL in terms of run defense grade, run stops, and run stop percentage according to Pro Football Focus.

The Cowboys potentially have a solid four-man rotation set up for 2021 on the interior defensive line with Gallimore, Antwaun Woods, Eli Ankou, and a healthy Trysten Hill. Of course, they’ll still need to address it in free agency and the draft, but that’s a pretty good starting point.

Gallimore has two more games (possibly more if the Cowboys make the playoffs) to make an impact in what’s been a respectable rookie campaign. He’s taken full advantage of his opportunities and looks like a great building block for the Cowboy’s interior defensive line going forward.

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Instant Analysis: Game balls, key stats, quick takes from Cowboys 41-33 win over 49ers

Things finally came up Cowboys in Week 15, as they were able to pour it on late to move to 5-9 on the season over the San Francisco 49ers.

The Dallas Cowboys rode 17 fourth-quarter points thanks to two interceptions and a special teams touchdown to earn their fifth win of the 2020 season.

Quarterback Andy Dalton and the offense were the beneficiaries of multiple short fields, and were able to keep the San Francisco 49ers at bay before eventually putting them away late. It all added up to a satisfying 41-33 win, and one of the Cowboys’ best all-around performances of the 2020 season.

The victory moved Dallas to 5-9 on the season, dropping the 49ers to the same record with just two weeks remaining in the regular campaign. That distinction has to be made because yes, the Cowboys still have an iota of a chance to make the playoffs.

Cowboys News: Will Jaylon Smith be back in 2020, continuity issues

The Dallas Cowboys and their Week 15 opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, have had somewhat similar seasons. Both teams entered the year with Super Bowl expectations, but injuries and losses have derailed their seasons. What once seemed like a matchup …

The Dallas Cowboys and their Week 15 opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, have had somewhat similar seasons. Both teams entered the year with Super Bowl expectations, but injuries and losses have derailed their seasons. What once seemed like a matchup would that decide playoff seedings now has more NFL draft implications than playoff, and for those reasons the NFL decided to relegate this game from it’s prime time slot to noon on Sunday.

A carousel of injuries hit the Dallas secondary this year, but the Cowboys are slowly getting their top defensive backs healthy, including the impressive rookie CB Trevon Diggs. Ezekiel Elliott is having a down season, but his durability has been on full display as he continues to battle through nagging injuries. Jaylon Smith’s struggles in 2020 have been well documented, will the team consider moving on from him? Plus, who are some early candidates to fill next year’s defensive coordinator vacancy?

 

Cowboys News: Jerry Jones talks Dak Prescott, drafting a QB

The Cowboys may now have a fourth rookie starter emerging. DeMarcus Lawrence still wreaking havoc. Prescott still the future.

Despite losses in their last two games to Pennsylvania’s Eagles and Steelers, the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive effort and execution has been miles better than what fans saw earlier in the year. Rookie defensive tackle Neville Gallimore’s snaps are increasing, and so is his impact. The former Sooner was borderline dominant Sunday against the Steelers, a great sign for a team that had previously lacked an interior presence.

Unfortunately for that Dallas defense, standout rookie CB Trevon Diggs suffered a broken bone in his foot and will miss a handful of weeks. Chidobe Awuzie was activated from injured reserve; his return should help mitigate the recent loss of Diggs. The Cowboys quarterbacks were a topic of discussion early in the bye week: Jerry Jones ruled out drafting a QB with Dallas’ likely-high first-round pick and Jones doubled down on his intent to keep Dak Prescott in a Cowboys uniform. Plus, should Garrett Gilbert get another crack at the starting job, or is the team right to hand the reins back to veteran Andy Dalton?

Cowboys rookie DT Neville Gallimore shining in increased role

With Gerald McCoy out for the season and Dontari Poe now off the roster, Neville Gallimore had an opportunity to step up, and he’s doing it.

The Dallas Cowboys’ run defense has been laughable in 2020, to say the least. Much of that can be attributed to injury and simply a lack of production on the interior of the defensive line. Gerald McCoy, signed back in March, suffered a ruptured quadriceps in August; he was lost for the season and eventually released. Dontari Poe produced only seven tackles in seven games and didn’t log a single sack or quarterback hit before he was released in October.

This set up an opportunity for third-round pick Neville Gallimore to show what he could bring to the table. In the Cowboys’ tough 24-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday, Gallimore graded out as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL in terms of run defense, run stops, and run stop percentage.

The Cowboys had their best outing of the year versus the run against Pittsburgh behind Gallimore’s breakout performance. They held the Steelers to only 46 yards rushing as a team on 18 attempts. Even though the Cowboys still rank 31st against the run, it was encouraging to see them render the Steelers offense so one-dimensional.

Gallimore didn’t see the field much early in the season, logging just 20 snaps in the first two games. After not recording a snap in Weeks 3 and 4, Gallimore has played at least 22 snaps in four of the last five games (17 snaps versus the Eagles in Week 8).

Gallimore’s combination of quickness and power is rare for a man who’s 6-foot-2 and 304 pounds. The duo of Gallimore and Antwaun Woods on the interior, coupled with DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory on the edge, may be the Cowboys’ best defensive line combination for the rest of the season.

The talented rookie now gets an extra week to prepare as the Cowboys are on their bye before hitting the road to face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11. Gallimore will be needed more than ever. The Cowboys will be tasked with containing running back Dalvin Cook, who has rushed for nearly 400 yards and five touchdowns in his last two games.

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Instant Analysis: Should there be hope for Cowboys following 24-19 loss?

The Cowboys made it interesting behind Garrett Gilbert, but lost for the seventh time in the first nine weeks of the 2020 NFL season.

On to their fourth different starting quarterback, the Dallas Cowboys put up more of a fight than they showed in recent weeks, but ultimately fell short once again. Dallas surprisingly led the game until late in the fourth quarter, before Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers defense woke up and slammed the door shut.

Pittsburgh won the contest 24-19, but Garrett Gilbert won the hearts of Cowboys Nation. Well, at least the portion not concerned with tanking for a better draft pick. They’re worried Gilbert might be good enough to win a few games after Dallas’ bye week. As for this game, here’s the first impressions.

Doors open for Gallimore: ‘Opportunity for me to step up’

The Oklahoma rookie has seen his snaps increase with each game he’s played in; changes in Dallas this week should keep that trend going.

When one door closes, another door opens. The Cowboys traded Everson Griffen to Detroit on Tuesday and cut Dontari Poe on Wednesday. That’s not one, but two doors closed on the interior defensive line. And two doors that are suddenly now open.

That extra-wide opening may come in handy as 6-foot-2, 300-plus-pound Neville Gallimore looks for a way in to the Cowboys’ long-term plans.

“I’m a rookie; I’m new to this,” the third-round draft pick told reporters via conference call on Wednesday. “All I know is that it’s an opportunity for me to step up personally.”

The 23-year-old Gallimore has seen his snap counts increase in each of the five games in which he’s appeared this season, from just six defensive snaps in the Week 1 opener to 38- over half of the defense’s total plays- last Sunday versus Washington.

The native Canadian who played his college ball at Oklahoma says getting to gradually wade in to the pool has helped him get acclimated to the pro game.

“Extremely beneficial,” Gallimore said of the chance to do more watching than playing early on. “It’s really cool from the fact, obviously coming from where I played ball at college- being faster, stronger than everybody- to being around guys where I’m not the fastest. I’m not the strongest. But just having a great group of guys who’ve been through the process and know what it takes. Just kind of leaning on them, understanding how I can be beneficial to the team by just doing my part and not having to do too much, but just doing my job the best I know how.

“Yeah, it’s a learning curve, but it’s a part of it. I know it wasn’t going to be easy. Heck, it wasn’t easy to get into this position anyway. So again, it’s just another opportunity for me to grow as a football player and again, just get better. That’s the biggest thing for me. I want to improve and I want to limit any mistakes or similar mistakes that happened in the past. Just grow. I’m just trying to be a better ballplayer, end of the day.”

Gallimore has always flashed impressive speed for a man his size; his natural athleticism was his main selling point entering the draft. Now it’s about honing his technique.

And with the opportunity for increased reps on the worst run defense in the league, the Cowboys hope Gallimore can get up to speed quickly.

“You know, obviously the biggest thing [is] just being able to be more effective in the run game. Stuff I’ve got to be better at,” he admitted. “That’s just something I’m working on: making sure my hands, my technique, everything is where it should be. I’m working on it and again, can’t really speak on it; just got to continue to show it. Obviously that’s biggest thing I’m working on: making sure that I’m taking steps to really help this team be more effective in run stop.”

Gallimore calls Dallas defensive line coach Jim Tomsula “a great teacher” and feels his overall play has already improved under the coach’s tutelage. The veterans in the locker room have helped, too, including the guys whose now-empty lockers are still warm.

“Dontari definitely took me under his wing when I got here and just kind of shed his light on me,” Gallimore shared on the same day Poe was released. “Definitely appreciative for what he’s done for me just on a personal level. Just kind of another veteran guy who’s been through the process, someone who’s been in the league for as long as he has, it’s no fluke… Definitely got a lot of love for Dontari.”

But now the ninth-year veteran is gone. And that will mean more looks for the rookie hoping to make the most of the chance offered by the vacancies Poe and Griffen left behind.

“I’m here for a reason. They got me here for a reason. So it’s my opportunity to step up, and I have that chance now. Taking it day by day. A lot of the progression doesn’t happen overnight. It’s about making sure I focus on the little things, just keeping my head down, and trying to get better.”

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Oklahoma’s Gerald McCoy Taught Neville Gallimore to “Trust the Process”

When former Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys in March, he called it a dream come true.

When former Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys in March, he called it a dream come true.

When fellow former Sooners CeeDee Lamb and Neville Gallimore were drafted to Dallas in April, that dream got even better.

Things took a turn for the worst once practice began, with McCoy rupturing his right quad tendon and subsequently being released by the team. But his relationship with Gallimore is one that made a lasting impact, even in a brief amount of time.

“The amount he’s helped me out in just a short amount of time, it was a great experience,” Gallimore said. “He really took me under his wing. He reminded me to trust the process and not overthink too much.”

On draft night, Gallimore told media members that he considers himself an “unfinished product,” which made the McCoy signing a timely one. The plan was for McCoy to mentor Gallimore, accelerate his development, and start in his place in the meantime.

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News: Cowboys camp updates even as sports boycotts threaten NFL

Training camp impressions and news on the annual team scrimmage even as boycotts in other leagues call the NFL’s response into question.

Wednesday began as an off day for the Cowboys and ended as one of the more remarkable days in sports history. Sparked by the Milwaukee Bucks’ boycott of their Game 5 tilt against the Orlando Magic, the NBA scrapped all of the evening’s playoff action. Some MLB teams, MLS, and the WNBA joined in solidarity, announcing stoppages of their own in response to police brutality, racial injustice, and the recent shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. And just like that, American sports deservedly took a backseat once again.

How Wednesday night’s stance by so many athletes might continue and how it may eventually affect the NFL – and specifically for those hitting up this site, the Cowboys – is anyone’s guess. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll alluded to possible boycotts by an NFL squad just two weeks out from opening night. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, already under fire for seeming to waffle on how he’ll treat player protests, will undoubtedly face questions about the chances of boycotted games the next time he’s in front of a microphone.

There are obviously much more important topics du jour than who’s done what at training camp and who’s poised for a big 2020 season on the football field. But there was that, too. Here are the News and Notes.

Pete Carroll on players possibly refusing to take the field over social justice issues: ‘Anything’s possible’ :: ProFootballTalk

Following a mock game before which several Seattle players sat during the national anthem, the Seahawks coach discussed the shooting of Jacob Blake and acknowledged that 2020 is “the season of protesting.” With the Detroit Lions shutting down their practice on Tuesday and other sports leagues experiencing boycotts of Wednesday contests, Carroll’s comments indicate that a similar response by an NFL squad- maybe even on an upcoming gameday- is a distinct possibility.

Three bold predictions for Cowboys in 2020: Dak Prescott takes home MVP honors, Dallas ends Super Bowl drought :: CBS Sports

Patrik Walker of CBS Sports lays out not one, not two, but three lofty predictions for the 2020 Dallas Cowboys.

Risers and fallers: CeeDee Lamb, Greg Zuerlein among Cowboys impressing in camp :: The Athletic

With fewer practice sessions this year, players have a limited window in which to shine for the coaching staff. Jon Machota names five players who have impressed during training camp, and five players who haven’t done as much to help themselves.

Cowboys annual Blue-White scrimmage set for Sunday in front of no fans at AT&T :: Cowboys Wire

The fan-favorite event will be played in the team’s empty home stadium. Offense will take on defense this Sunday, presumably to be streamed to fans as the only opportunity to watch the team in real time before the Week 1 season opener.

Fighting the Cowboys training camp hype is hard :: Blogging The Boys

CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, and several other young players are having good training camps so far, making it hard not to be overly excited about the 2020 edition of the Dallas Cowboys.

One-gap, two-gap, he’s back for more sacks: Cowboys’ Lawrence talks DL change :: Cowboys Wire

There’s been a ton of turnover along the defensive front in Dallas this offseason. But opposing offenses would be wise not to forget that DeMarcus Lawrence is still the unit’s centerpiece. “I’ll give you something very interesting to look at this whole season,” the two-time Pro Bowler says.

5 interesting developments from Cowboys training camp: Pair of D-linemen among top stories so far :: Dallas Morning News

John Owning discusses how Jaylon Smith is flourishing in coverage, how Trysten Hill is shedding the “bust” label, and how Aldon Smith doesn’t appear to have lost a step.

Xavier Woods not fazed by Earl Thomas talk :: The Mothership

Safety Xavier Woods is one of the multiple young defensive backs on this Cowboys team capable of having a breakout year. Woods wasn’t pleased to hear that the Cowboys might acquire Earl Thomas, but he’s using the whispers as motivation.

McCoy taught Gallimore to ‘Trust the process’ :: The Mothership

Gerald McCoy wasn’t around his new Cowboys teammates for very long before a quad injury ruined his season. But it was long enough to make a lasting impact on rookie and fellow defensive lineman Neville Gallimore.

Top 3 NFL wide receivers by route: Michael Thomas reigns :: NFL.com

Nick Shook issues rankings on who’s the best in the league at each of eight different receiver routes. Michael Gallup earns accolades for his “in route” work, while Amari Cooper is highlighted for the slant route.

Stephen A. implores Jerry Jones to pick a side on anthem kneeling :: ESPN

Love him or loathe him, Stephen A. Smith always comes with his two cents, and the volume is always turned up to ten. On Wednesday, he aimed his soapbox squarely at the most visible and outspoken owner in the NFL.

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