Based on preseason expectations, the Dallas Cowboys linebacker unit has been one of the biggest disappointments thus far this season.

Billed as quite possibly the best linebackers unit in the NFL, the Cowboys LBs’ underwhelming performance this season is one of the biggest reasons why Dallas’ defense has taken a step back this year - In 2018, the team finished ninth in Defense DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, which “breaks down every single NFL play and compares a team’s performance to a league baseline based on situation in order to determine value over average”) while the team currently ranks 19th in that same category.

With two young studs (Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch), one of the most intelligent defenders in the NFL (Sean Lee), and an incredibly versatile backup who could start for multiple teams (Joe Thomas), Dallas’ lofty preseason expectations were warranted; unfortunately, each one has taken a step back in terms of their play this season when compared with last season.

What are the issues plaguing this talented but underperforming group? Glad you asked:

DTs Not Doing Their Job

Before we get into the issues plaguing the Cowboys linebackers, it’s important to note that Dallas’ defensive tackles aren’t making their jobs any easier, as poor gap discipline has put the linebackers in some impossible situations. Here’s an example:

This TD is one Maliek Collins, imo. Aligned in back-side B-gap but gets reached and hooked, leaving that B-gap vacant. Can't let the RT cross your face in this situation.



Puts Xavier Woods 1v1 against Jones with a ton of space, not a winning proposition for the D. pic.twitter.com/kzgk9jx0TG — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 7, 2019

At first glance, this may appear to be a play where Jaylon Smith did a poor job filling his gap and was easily walled off by the right guard but further investigation reveals that Maliek Collins deserves the brunt of the blame for this Aaron Jones touchdown run.

Collins, who aligns in the B-gap, initially steps vertically, which enables the right tackle to reach and seal Collins outside, which puts Smith in an impossible situation where he has to fill two gaps by himself. Smith does well to take away Jones’ initial path, forcing the Green Bay RB to cutback; unfortunately, there were no defenders there to clean up.

If Collins was able to stay disciplined and clog the B-gap, then Dallas would have been in the perfect position to bottle this run up and prevent the TD.

The vertical and penetrating nature of this defense often makes it easier for interior offensive lines to reach and cut-off the Cowboys defensive tackles, as they are more focused on getting vertical penetration, which makes them susceptible on horizontal runs, such as outside zone, pin-and-pull sweep, etc, putting the linebackers in lose-lose situations at the point-of-attack.

While Dallas linebackers have certainly seen a dropoff in their play this year, the defensive tackles shouldn’t escape blame, as their poor play versus the run has exacerbated the linebackers’ issues this season.

Missed Tackles

The No. 1 issue with the Cowboys LB group this season has been their inconsistent tackling, which has been pervasive against the run and pass.

After missing just 10 tackles in all of 2018, Leighton Vander Esch has missed 14 tackles in just nine games this season. Jaylon Smith missed 12 tackles last year and has already missed nine this year. Sean Lee missed just four tackles in an injury-plagued season last year but has already doubled that total this year, missing nine tackles thus far this season. As the backup, Joe Thomas doesn’t get as many tackling opportunities, but even he has missed more tackles this year (three) than he did last year (two).

Interestingly enough, Jaylon Smith’s tackling issues have been the most prevalent in the passing game, as he’s done a poor job coming to balance at the tackle point while also taking poor angles to rally and tackle the ball carrier. Here’s a great example:

Not ideal from Jaylon. pic.twitter.com/dIscdd2UbL — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 15, 2019

When coming forward to make a tackle in space, Smith is often out of control, making it easier for the more talented runners to elude his tackle and create more yards after the catch. Smith is a big hitter who needs to do a better job of wrapping up opposing ball carriers when the opportunity calls for it instead of trying to build enough momentum to levy an impact hit on contact.

Sean Lee, on the other hand, has had a real issue making one-on-one tackles this season -- an area he used to thrive in during his prime. Here is an example:

Sean Lee reads this from the jump but can't finish. pic.twitter.com/o6IX64FuYR — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 1, 2019

On this play, Lee reads the jet sweep to Alvin Kamara extremely quick, which enables him to flow outside and get in position to make the tackle behind the line of scrimmage. Kamara’s hesitation slows Lee’s pursuit and made Lee lean inside, which is all the Saints running back needed to beat Lee to the outside. Since he was behind Kamara, Lee had no chance to put his helmet across Kamara’s body for tackle, forcing Lee to use all arms, which was easily discarded by Kamara.

While Smith and Lee have had notable tackling issues this season, they have paled in comparison with Leighton Vander Esch’s tackling issues this season. Vander Esch is currently out with a neck injury, but his 14 missed tackles still rank as the fifth-most in the NFL this season (every player above him has played in at least 11 games to Vander Esch’s nine).

Vander Esch’s tackling issues have been pervasive through just about every phase of linebacker play. Whether it’s one-on-one in space or in tight quarters versus the run or pass, Vander Esch’s issues with finishing have severely hindered the Cowboys’ defense. Here is an example:

Another missed tackle from LVE. You can see how frustrated he is with his tackling troubles by his reaction after the play. pic.twitter.com/eTODueA1UA — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 19, 2019

On this play, Vander Esch does a good job reading the screen and playing downhill to get in position to stop the screen for minimal positive yardage. However, Vander Esch gets caught leaning too far outside, making it easy for J.D. McKissic to elude Vander Esch and pick up an extra five or six yards.

Tackling is fundamental in the NFL, and the erosion of the fundamentals for the Cowboys linebacker group this season should be extremely worrisome, as poor tackling can sabotage even the most talented defenses.

Inconsistent Mental Processing

If tackling is the most important trait for a linebacker, mental processing is probably No. 2. A linebacker’s ability to quickly read his keys while understanding the opposing team’s tendencies enables him to diagnose the offense’s attack and get in the proper position to stop the offense under the context of scheme.

The Cowboys linebackers’ mental processing isn’t always bad, as you will see Smith, Lee or Vander Esch read their keys, fly toward the line of scrimmage and make a stop near the line of scrimmage, it’s just that they’re incredibly inconsistent. Like an offensive tackle who gets killed for allowing two sacks despite stymieing the opposing pass-rusher for the other 50 snaps, play-to-play consistency is key, as poor mental processing on just two or three snaps is enough to totally change the outlook on the defense’s performance.

The Cowboys linebackers as a whole just haven’t been consistent enough with their mental processing. Here’s an example:

Because he is anticipating a downhill run, Jaylon steps toward the LOS instead of laterally, which causes him to get caught in the trash inside the box.



Even with the center tripping, Jaylon's 1st step put him so far out of position that he still couldn't evade the block. pic.twitter.com/5ZmzbLM8W1 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 11, 2019

On this play, pay close attention to Jaylon Smith, who is aligned as the middle linebacker. Once the ball is snapped, instead of mirroring the running back’s outside flow, Smith instead gets antsy and initially steps toward the line of scrimmage, which totally inhibits his ability to properly flow outside and get in position to make a tackle before Vikings running back Dalvin Cook can reach the end zone.

Because Smith’s first step was forward instead of laterally (like he was supposed to given the running back’s initial flow), the center had to cover less ground to climb and get a piece of Smith at the second level. Smith’s initial step put him so far out of position that even though the center tripped as he climbed to the second level, he was still able to block Smith enough to prevent the Cowboys linebacker from getting in position to make the tackle.

If Smith had stepped laterally initially, he would have easily outpaced the center’s block, especially given that the center tripped, which would have put him in the perfect position to prevent Cook from reaching the end zone.

Now, as illustrated before, there’s no guarantee that Smith makes the tackle but, at least, he would have been in position to make one had he read his keys correctly.

Let’s take a look at another example:

Jaylon gets pinned inside by the TE's block (and tries to spin?? to get away). Lee is a step slow to run, causing his pursuit angle to be more flat than downhill to beat the climbing RGs block. This leads Lee to overrunning the hole, leaving an easy lane to cutback to for the RB. pic.twitter.com/oLHYtL2wsd — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 29, 2019

On this play, pay attention to how Lee’s slight hesitation in flowing outside while reading his keys forces him to take a flatter angle to the designed hole in an effort to outpace the right guard climbing to block him at the second level. Instead of pursuing downhill at a 45-degree angle to attack the hole and stay square, Lee’s flat pursuit angle combined with the momentum created to outpace the right guard prevents Lee from coming to balance once he arrives at the hole, making it easy for the RB to counter Lee’s momentum and elude the tackle with a simple inside cut to get into space.

If Lee didn’t initially hesitate as he was processing the play, he would have taken a more direct, downhill angle to the hole, which would have put him in a better position to react to the cut and make the tackle for little gain.

Poor run fits and passively taking on blocks

Even when the Cowboys linebackers read the play correctly, they are, at times, sabotaged by poor run fits or passively taking on blocks. Here’s a perfect example:

Great angle from the RG but Jaylon has to use his speed to outpace him. Seems like he could have used a rip & run technique instead of meeting the block square, which led to him getting bullied downfield. Not good. pic.twitter.com/8NAgorBHS5 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 29, 2019

On this play, pay close attention to Jaylon Smith, who is aligned is the middle linebacker. Instead of using his speed to outpace the right guard to get in position to fill his gap and meet the running back in the hole (as Lee properly showed later in the game), Smith instead slows up for some reason and passively takes on the block. From there, Smith does little to beat the block and gets bullied past the first-down marker as a result.

Look at Smith’s terrible pad level and body positioning as he takes on the block. His pad level is simply too high, eliminating any chance he has to mitigate his size and strength disadvantage with leverage at the point of attack. Because linebackers are smaller and weaker than offensive linemen, it’s paramount that they are aggressive and violent with their attack if they want to be effective stacking and shedding blocks (here’s an example of Vander Esch attacking blocks the proper way). Smith is neither here, which is another example of the poor technique demonstrated by the Dallas linebackers.

Here’s another example of a poor fit by a Cowboys linebacker:

Poor backside discipline from LVE. Gets sucked inside by Aaron Jones pressing the LOS, which eliminates any backside contain DAL was supposed to have. pic.twitter.com/GaQxWOu3FX — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 7, 2019

On this play keep your eyes on Leighton Vander Esch, who is aligned as the strong-side linebacker on the left edge. After the ball is snapped, Vander Esch gets sucked too far inside, which prevents him from maintaining his contain responsibility and allows Aaron Jones to bounce outside and pick up a big gain on the ground.

Vander Esch essentially blocked himself on this play, as he was too concerned about trying to make the tackle rather than fulfilling his responsibility given the context of the offense’s play call and the defense’s scheme. Dallas’ interior defense did a great job clogging its gaps upfront but were undermined by Vander Esch’s poor discipline on his run fit, which showcases that even if 10 players are doing their job correctly, it only takes one mistake to create a big play for the opposing offense.

Injuries

After detailing the numerous issues with Cowboys linebackers play, it’s important to also note that Lee, Vander Esch and Smith have also been dealing with a variety of injuries this season, which could help explain the drop off in their play from last year.

Vander Esch has missed a couple games while being hindered in numerous others by a neck injury. Lee, as has become the norm, has dealt with a myriad of issues, including a knee injury and a pectoral strain that was recently reaggravated, this season even though he’s yet to miss a game. Smith, like Lee, has yet to miss a game but has had to manage a knee issue that has lingered since training camp.

It’s impossible to know to what extent that each linebackers’ injuries are affecting their play this season but it’s clear they have some effect, whether it be physical or psychological.

Final Thoughts: The most frustrating aspect of the linebackers’ struggles this season is that it’s hard to pinpoint just one area where they need to improve; instead, it’s been injuries, a lack of consistency and an erosion of fundamental techniques that have set the stage for their struggles this year.

Luckily for Dallas, the core of their linebacker group -- Smith and Vander Esch -- is still very young, big and exceedingly athletic. So despite their struggles this year, their NFL futures still appear to be bright. They should become more consistent and fundamentally strong as they gain more experience on the field.