It doesn't take a football expert to figure out that Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch is an exceptional talent.

Listed at 6-4, 256 pounds, Vander Esch is a mountain of a man and an imposing presence in the middle of the Cowboys defense. On top of his size, he's extremely athletic (testing into the 97th percentile among NFL LBs, per 3 Sigma Athlete) and intelligent, which enabled him to finish third in the league in tackles among linebackers despite starting just 11 regular season games.

Vander Esch is a dominant presence against the run, but it was his coverage ability that stood out during Thursday's practice, as he did an excellent job blanketing Dallas' jitterbug RB Tony Pollard:

Tight coverage by LVE on Tony Pollard. PBU. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/ijHLXoYVdC — John Owning (@JohnOwning) August 8, 2019

The Cowboys came out in an empty set with Pollard flexed out wide with a numbers split. With Jaylon Smith blitzing, Vander Esch was left on an island against Pollard in coverage - a daunting task for any linebacker.

Nevertheless, Vander Esch did an excellent job of staying patient through Pollard's release, which enabled him to be in proper position to mirror Pollard's pivot route - a route that puts a lot of stress on the change-of-direction ability of defenders.

Vander Esch did an excellent job of tracking Pollard's inside (right) hip, which put him in perfect position to undercut the route. From there, the Boise State product leveraged his 33 7/8-inch arms to reach in front of the rookie running back and knock the ball down, resulting in an incompletion and a win for the defense.

Undersized linebackers, let alone a 256-pound one, often have trouble sticking with pivot routes which just goes to show how rare of a talent Vander Esch truly is. He has the size of a downhill thumper but with the skill set of a linebacker who can play sideline-to-sideline, enabling him to be uniquely effective against the run and pass.

Jaylon Smith and DeMarcus Lawrence are, undoubtedly, the leaders of the Cowboys defense, but it's not crazy to say that Vander Esch is the most talented - his outstanding coverage on Pollard was just the latest example.

Enjoy this post? More film studies:

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-- Film room: Best play of Cowboys camp? Inside Dorance Armstrong's masterful fake spin vs. La'el Collins

Twitter: @JohnOwning