Five Dallas Cowboys who could have a comeback year in 2020

Sean Lee, LB

Do you remember the Sean Lee of 2013-2017? I sure do. He was amazing. Sure, he was a frustrating player to root for, what with always getting injured. But when he was healthy, there wasn’t a better linebacker in all of professional football.

At least that’s how it looked to many Dallas fans. He seemed to have an innate sense of where the football was going to be. In 2013, Lee had four interceptions, and ran them back for 174 yards, including a touchdown. Between 2015-2017, he averaged 12 tackles for loss.

And that’s without completing any of these seasons! Anyone who watched those seasons can attest: The Cowboys defense was on a different level with Lee in the game. With him, they were pretty good. Without him, sometimes they were downright dreadful.

In 2019, after fellow linebacker Leighton Vander Esch had his breakthrough season, Lee was moved to the strong side, a position that sees the field less than the other two linebacker positions.

It was a good move for Lee. Even with more play once Vander Esch went out with an injury, Lee completed the season without a serious injury for the first time in his career. In this role, he made lots of tackles, 86, but this is down from previous years, and he didn’t have as many splash plays as during his prime.

Can Sean Lee discover the fountain of youth this offseason, and emerge during the season as the Sean Lee, circa 2013-17, sniffing out plays and snuffing them out in the backfield at will? It’s a tough sell, but stranger things have happened.