After the first preseason game against the Rams, the Dallas Cowboys have more than enough to fix, but not all was bad on Saturday and the stock of a second-year player continues to rise.
Second-year linebacker Marist Liufau is living up to the hype and was one of the bright spots for the team in its Week 1 preseason loss to the Rams.
We have seen it all summer, but doing it at real game speed is something I wanted to see. He showed flashes last season, and looks to be in line for a huge leap this season for Dallas.
Linebackers
The Dallas Cowboys defense is a legitimate worry going into September. The only group I have any type of confidence in right now is Liufau and the rest of the linebacking core.
Matt Eberflus, the new defensive coordinator for the Cowboys has always valued big, long, fast linebackers, and he looks like he’s got that—even with budding star DeMarvion Overshown likely out until mid-season.
Damone Clark is playing faster, and looks like he’s on the verge of breaking out.
Rookie Shemar James’s speed and ability to trigger quickly has translated from what he did at Florida. Jack Sanborn’s coming over from the Bears with him should be a huge help.
Kenneth Murray will wear the green dot for the Cowboys, a former first round pick that the Cowboys traded for this offseason.
He was the 23rd overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma by the Los Angeles Chargers.
Murray started 53 of his 59 games played in Los Angeles from 2020 to 2023 before signing a two-year, $15.5 million contract with the Tennessee Titans in free agency last offseason.
Murray tallied career-highs in tackles for loss (8.0) and sacks (3.5) in 2024 while starting all 14 games that he played.
I think the secondary is going to struggle and the defensive line still has an issue stopping the run, so the linebackers are going to need to play at a very high level, and from what we have seen so far this summer, they have a real chance to do that.
We will see how the rest of the preseason goes, but I would really like if the starters played maybe one or two drives this weekend.
I don’t think it’ll happen, but this team is not polished enough to not play any snaps in the preseason and think they can go out and just be great against the defending champions in week one.
