Inside The Star
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. I would chase a linebacker archetype this defense has missed for a few years.
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, and erase mistakes before they turned explosive.
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.
You fix it by finding a high-floor MIKE linebacker who knows how to play the position and doesn’t wreck the defense when things break down.
I believe this could be fixed on Day three.
I dug through the 2026 linebacker class, and a couple of players stand out to me as the most Leighton Vander Esch-type linebacker the Cowboys could realistically target in the 4th round.
If you’re looking for a player who feels like Vander Esch, the closest athletically, and structurally, Jake Golday is the guy.
Golday isn’t flashy or winning the combine. What he does is read plays quickly, triggers downhill, and cleans up mistakes.
That’s the part of Vander Esch’s game people have forgotten.
He wasn’t just an athlete, he was decisive and reliable. When the Cowboys’ defense functioned, it was often because he found the unglamorous work.
Golday plays the same brand of football.
If you watched the Cincinnati Bearcats, not many did, you would have seen Golday take on blocks, play with discipline, and he doesn’t freelance. Coaches trust players like that, especially on early downs.
In the 4th round, that’s exactly the kind of linebacker this team should be targeting.
I will throw in another player, to give options later in the draft.
If you’re looking for the mental side of that linebacker archetype, that’s where Lander...
