Can the Cowboys’ linebackers hold the fort until Agent 0 returns?

The latest injury update on Cowboys’ linebacker DeMarvion Overshown has Agent 0 on pace for a mid-season return.

That puts a lot of pressure on the remaining eight linebackers on the depth chart. Yes, we know, Micah Parson is technically a linebacker, but he’s more of a defensive end in Dallas’ scheme.

Which will beg the obvious question: Can the linebacker room hold up until Overshown returns?

And that is assuming he comes back fully healthy and in his pre-injury form.

This is the current depth chart at linebacker for the Cowboys in a 4-2-5 defensive set, per ourlads.com:

WLB DeMarvion Overshown (INJ) / Marist Liufau / Shemar James / Buddy Johnson / Justin Barron

MLB Kenneth Murray Jr. / Jack Sanborn / Damone Clark / Darius Harris

With the departure of Eric Kendricks, and Overshown’s injury, Marist Liufau and Damone Clark are the only two linebackers that have started for Dallas.

Fortunately, the Cowboys attended to this issue prior to the draft. They traded with Tennessee to land Kenneth Murray and signed free agent Jack Sanborn, who had played in Chicago.

Both linebackers have started many games and both are relatively young players.

Dallas also shored up the position room in the draft. The Cowboys selected Shemar James out of Florida in the fifth round.

Who Will Be The Starters?

Liufau was actually pretty solid in his rookie year last year and should get one of the two slots. This leaves an interesting battle for the second.

Sanborn is a former Bears player.

The Cowboys’ current defensive coordinator is Matt Eberflus. He was the head coach of the Chicago Bears last year.

In his three years in the NFL, Sanborn has 19 starts out of 48 games played.

But after two years of 60-plus tackle seasons, he slipped to just 35 tackles last year. He also started in just three games after a 10-start 2023 campaign.

Murray will be playing in his sixth year this fall.

He started in 53 of the 59 games he played in for the Chargers before starting in all 14 games he played in for the Titans last year.

In 2024, he had 95 tackles and 3.5 sacks. He sandwiched 100-plus tackle seasons, in his rookie and his fourth seasons, around two less-productive years in 2021 and 2022.

It will be interesting to see which of the two emerges as the middle linebacker this fall under Eberflus.

But the one certainty is, even with Overshown out of action for several games, the linebacker group should be able to hold up. Assuming there are no more injuries.

Agent 0 Comeback

Most reports have Overshown missing the first eight games of 2025. But Overshown himself isn’t ruling out being back for the season-opener.

Overshown suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and PCL in his right knee last year in Week 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In his rookie year in 2023, he never made it out of the preseason, tearing the ACL in his left knee against the Seahawks in Seattle.

He bounced back from that initial injury and had been putting together a solid sophomore season, technically his rookie year as far as playing on the field in the regular season.

Overshown started in 12 of the 13 games he played in during 2024. He had 90 tackles and five sacks.

His highlight of the season came on Thanksgiving Day, just one week before the season-ending injury, when he had a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown.

He was having a solid showing against the Bengals with six tackles before his season came to a heart-breaking end.

If Overshown does return from this injury as well as he did from his first, and if he can do so sooner rather than later, it will be a huge boost to the defense.

With Agent 0 back in action, the Cowboys could have one of the more dominant front sevens in the NFL.

If they intend to make the playoffs, and make a deeper run than they have in 29 seasons, they’ll need a strong and healthy Agent 0 on the case.