Dallas Cowboys: Has Sean Lee been better than Leighton Vander Esch?
By Matt Aaron
Vander Esch’s play in 2018 vs. 2019
One play from the New Orleans Saints game in week 12 of 2018 is a great example of Vander Esch’s rookie-year excellence. In the third quarter, at the Dallas 47-yard line, LVE fought his way through several offensive linemen to take down running back Mark Ingram in the backfield for a one-yard loss.
It was a great play, a momentum-swinging play. But it wasn’t just that one play. Vander Esch was in the Saints’ face all game. He was one of the main factors in the Cowboys beating the highly-regarded team.
That’s how he played most of the season last year: lights-out football. He made many momentum-shifting plays over the course of the year. Plus, the guy was a tackling machine. If he got his hands on an opposing ball carrier, they were going down.
He just hasn’t been the same this year. He’s made no interceptions, and he hasn’t been as sure a tackler. Time and again this season, fans have seen Vander Esch bounce off an opposing player, or lay hands on the guy, but get dragged five or six yards.
That happened in the Minnesota Vikings game, when Dalvin Cook had 183 total yards (running and catching). I’m not sure how many of those yards came at Vander Esch’s expense, but some of them definitely did. Cook made Vander Esch look foolish more than once.
Maybe it’s not fair to bring up Dalvin Cook. One of the best running backs in the NFL this year, Cook is only 106 yards behind league-leading Christian McCaffrey of the Carolina Panthers in rushing yards, according to ESPN.
And in fairness, LVE was not the only Dallas defender Cook humiliated in that game. Even so, Vander Esch just hasn’t seemed like the defensive force he was last year.
In the last few games, perhaps LVE has been hampered by the neck injury, which he sustained against the Philadelphia Eagles in week seven. But he wasn’t playing like a Pro Bowler before that either.