The Landry Hat
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Dallas Cowboys: Linebacker Jaylon Smith’s hype train

By Bobby Cummings

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 23: Jaylon Smith #54 of the Dallas Cowboys closes in on Melvin Gordon #28 of the Los Angeles Chargers in the second half of a football game at AT&T Stadium on November 23, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 23: Jaylon Smith #54 of the Dallas Cowboys closes in on Melvin Gordon #28 of the Los Angeles Chargers in the second half of a football game at AT&T Stadium on November 23, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Recently we have seen videos like this one out of Cowboys camp–courtesy of Dallas Morning News Jon Machota— where Jaylon is displaying his speed. That’s the Jaylon I saw in Palo Alto. A significant improvement upon last year at this time.

It has been a long road for Jaylon getting back to the player we saw at Notre Dame. Jaylon’s critics and doubters will undoubtedly bring up return on investment. In 2016 Smith didn’t play a down and in the first half of the Cowboys 2017 season he was limited and a liability at times.

In week 4 of last year vs the Los Angeles Rams, he had maybe his worst game of the year. The coaching staff didn’t do him any favors putting him in 1 on 1 situations in coverage against one of the best receiving backs in football Todd Gurley III.

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Within the past year, I have seen a lot of people posting plays like that, plays where Jaylon doesn’t excel. I think at times his treatment by the media has been unfair and has created a false narrative.  Yes, he struggled some, but for every bad play, there were multiple plays where he looked solid or very good. Especially late in the year.

The coaches film shows a player who didn’t have the utmost confidence in his ability to plant on his leg and accelerate forward. Keep in mind due to injuries to the Cowboys linebacker core Smith was tasked as a rookie, coming off a major knee injury and playing his first football in 20 months to play a very high amount of snaps from the onset of the season.

However, the coaches film also reveals as the weeks and reps continued to come it was apparent Jaylon was getting a lot more confident in his leg. He started making flash plays and began to showcase his superior athleticism.

No play was more exciting during his first season of play than his tackle for loss week 17 vs the Philadelphia Eagles. If you don’t remember or haven’t seen the play I am referencing I encourage you to venture to my Twitter timeline. I cut up a short clip from the coaches film of the exact play. He perfectly timed the snap and showed great explosion into the backfield to bring down the ball-carrier.

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