Cowboys’ Jaylon Smith is PFF’s Breakout Player of the Year
From battling a career-threatening knee injury to becoming a budding NFL superstar, Dallas Cowboys‘ Jaylon Smith is PFF’s Breakout Player of the Year.
The Dallas Cowboys took a major gamble when they drafted Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Just four months prior, Smith had suffered a possible career-ending knee injury. Three years later and Pro Football Focus has named him Breakout Player of the Year.
Prior to his injury, Smith was considered a possible top-five selection in the upcoming NFL draft. But he tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee during the first quarter of the Fiesta Bowl, causing significant nerve damage.
Rehabilitation from the injury required Smith to miss his entire rookie season in Dallas. During his second year, the talented young linebacker would make his professional debut. But Smith’s nerve damage would require him to were a brace for drop foot and he lacked some lateral quickness.
Smith would go on to play in all 16 games in 2017, starting in six of them as an injury suffered by veteran Sean Lee forced him into early action. The rust and inexperience showed at times as Jaylon appeared a second or two behind the action at times. He ended his sophomore season in Dallas recording 81 total tackles, 1.0 sack, two pass defends and forcing two fumbles.
In 2018, Smith ditched the foot brace and appeared to be the athlete he was prior to his knee injury. He started in all 16 games for the Cowboys, and posted 121 total tackles, 4.0 sacks, four pass defends and two forced fumbles.
One area in particular that PFF pointed out as the most improved for Smith is his run defense. Here’s what Ben Cooper wrote for the analytics website about the Cowboys’ third-year linebacker.
"“Smith vastly improved his run defense from a season ago. When lined up in an off-ball linebacker position in 2017, he averaged first contact on runners only after they had gained nearly 2.6 yards. In 2018, he shrunk that number all the way down to just one yard before he made first contact, stifling opposing running backs before they had time to break away.”"
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Combined with first round rookie Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith represents the best young linebacker corps in the NFL. This dynamic duo took the league by storm in 2018 leading to Vander Esch getting a Pro Bowl nod and the Dallas Cowboys a premier defense that finished the season tied for sixth in scoring allowing just 20.3 points per game.
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