Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys have a lot of questions at linebacker.
New Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has built a reputation throughout his career as a linebacker whisperer. Cowboys fans watched Sean Lee blossom into a star under his watch, while players like Jaylon Smith, Bruce Carter, and Anthony Hitchens set career bests while Eberflus was in Dallas before later falling off.
In Indianapolis, Shaq Leonard became a four-time All Pro, all of them coming with Eberflus as his coordinator. Zaire Franklin, Matthew Adams, and Anthony Walker also put together solid seasons as rotational players.
Eberflus will have his work cut out for him in his first season back in Dallas, though.
The Cowboys have an ascendant star in DeMarvion Overshown, whose unique skillset seems on paper to be a perfect fit for Eberflus’ Tampa 2 defense. Of course, Overshown suffered a gruesome knee injury last year and there is doubt over whether he’ll even play at all in 2025. Overshown seems to be optimistic, but no timeline has been revealed just yet.
The Cowboys’ other primary starting linebacker last year was Eric Kendricks, who is no longer with the team. That leaves Eberflus with a lot of questions and, so far, no firm answers.
Dallas has been appropriately proactive in giving Eberflus options, though. They traded for Kenneth Murray, a former first-round pick, and also signed Jack Sanborn from the Bears, who played under Eberflus. Marist Liufau enters his second season in the NFL, and Damone Clark seems to be very much on the roster bubble, while fifth-round rookie Shemar James will also be in the mix.
Sanborn seems the most likely bet to play significant snaps. Undrafted in 2022, he was brought to Chicago as part of the first rookie class of the Eberflus era. His strong play helped the team feel more comfortable trading away Roquan Smith later that year, making Sanborn the official starter halfway through the year.
That offseason, though, the Bears made a splash in free agency with high-dollar signings of both Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards, relegating Sanborn to the third linebacker spot. He continued to be productive in that role, but Sanborn didn’t see the field as much. Still, his familiarity with the scheme Eberflus runs makes him a plug-and-play starter in 2025, the only year for which he’s under contract.
Murray is intriguing due to his draft pedigree and sideline-to-sideline athleticism, but the former Titan has consistently been a liability in coverage and offers limited upside as a primary run defender. Liufau came on strong towards the end of his rookie season, but that was while playing in the Mike Zimmer defense. It’s unclear just how he’ll project to Eberflus’ radically different defense.
Clark makes for an interesting conundrum. Once thought to be a potential first-round pick, spinal fusion surgery led to him falling to the Cowboys in the fifth round. After playing a little towards the end of his rookie year, Clark led the team in tackles in 2023, but very quickly...
