Cowboys’ rookie takes big step
FRISCO, Texas — Ask Leighton Vander Esch about his improbable path from eight-man high school football to first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, and the rookie linebacker is quick with a retort of never being fazed by brighter lights or bigger cities.
Ask the former Boise State walk-on what he does to relax, and Vander Esch stares silently as his smile grows. “Uh,” he said Friday, the first day of rookie minicamp. “I don’t even know.”
Maybe that helps explain his rise to Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year and his showing at the combine and other workouts that stood out to new Dallas linebackers coach Ben Bloom. The Cowboys drafted Vander Esch 19th overall two weeks ago.
“It’s kind of hard for me to relax, honestly,” said Vander Esch, who signed an $11.8 million, four-year deal later Friday. “At this point, expectations are so high there’s no time to relax. There’s no days off. You’ve just got to keep trucking away.”
Linebacker was one of the primary needs for Dallas going into the draft because of Sean Lee’s history of injuries, Jaylon Smith’s continuing recovery from a serious college knee injury and Anthony Hitchens’ departure in free agency.
The Cowboys hadn’t drafted a linebacker in the first round since Bobby Carpenter 12 years ago in almost the same spot (18th).
Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli is already talking rotation with Lee, Smith and Vander Esch for two spots. If Lee stays healthy, that’s more likely to mean shared time between Vander Esch and Smith, a second-round pick in 2016.
Vander Esch considers himself a middle linebacker and flatly denied a report from before the draft that a neck injury sustained at Boise had prompted some NFL teams to downgrade him on draft boards. Regardless, the Cowboys weren’t one of those teams.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones likes to compare Vander Esch to Rolando McClain, a firstround flameout in Oakland who had the best year of his career in 2014 in helping the Cowboys to just their second playoff win since their last Super Bowl title following the 1995 season.