Ranking the Dallas Cowboys top 5 current players
By Nathan Jones
The Dallas Cowboys are a star-studded franchise. These five players are among the very best in the National Football League.
The Dallas Cowboys roster is loaded with special talent, which makes sense as it is America’s Team. The mainstream media hype up certain players and leave other deserving athletes out of the fold.
Who are the most important players on the roster is different than saying who are the best players. For the sake of argument, I will not consider positional value. So who are the five best overall Cowboys’ players on the current roster? Here are my picks.
5. Leighton Vander Esch
The Cowboys selected linebacker Leighton Vander Esch in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. The pick was subject to criticism from all people: analysts, “draft experts”, and fans.
After a phenomenal rookie season, Vander Esch made everyone eat their words. The rookie sensation grabbed the reins when veteran linebacker Sean Lee went down with an injury. What could have been a big blow for Dallas’ defense, ended up providing the opportunity for the unit to get younger and faster?
Vander Esch recorded 102 solo tackles (140 total) in 2018. He ended the year as the third highest tackler in the entire league despite only playing the 36th most snaps among linebackers (754), per Pro Football Focus (PFF).
But Vander Esch is not just a run-stopping linebacker. He also excels at playing in coverage. Vander Esch grabbed two interceptions and also added seven pass deflections to his resume. To put that level of production in perspective, the entire defense only managed to intercept opposing quarterbacks nine times.
The young player, nicknamed the “Wolf Hunter”, is now a fan favorite of Cowboys’ nation. For years the Cowboys were one bad hamstring away from having a glaring weakness in the front seven. Heading into 2019, Dallas now has the best linebacking core in the NFL with Vander Esch’s consistency to hold the unit together.