For many years, Linebacker Sean Lee has been the face of the Dallas Cowboys defense. However, that’s quickly changing. The young duo consisting of Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch have taken over the linebacker position by dominating the field from sideline to sideline with their explosive talent. As a rookie, Vander Esch filled in for Lee at the weak linebacker position when the veteran went down injured and never gave the job back.
Currently, uncertainty surrounds Sean Lee, who took a pay cut earlier in the year to stay with the franchise he’s played for since the beginning of his professional career in 2010. What will his role be in a young fueled defense in the upcoming season?
As we’ve all been able to see throughout his career, Sean Lee is one of the best in the game when he’s healthy. Unfortunately, that’s not very often. His injury proneness led him to a position change years ago, when he was moved from the MIKE (middle linebacker) to the WILL (weak side linebacker) position. Now, those two spots are taken care of.
Where does this leaves Lee? The main question is whether or not he’ll move to the strong side. Many question if this would be the correct call, given that he could be at even more risk of suffering yet another injury in a position that leads to more contact. The other option would be for him to be Vander Esch’s backup at WILL.
Lately, it seems like the Cowboys will indeed move him to the strong-side. After all, it only makes sense to have your best three players on the field at the same time. On minicamp, the Cowboys have been playing the veteran at SAM, letting him get reps and grow comfortable in what seems to be his new job.
But even if Sean Lee starts lining up on the strong side, what can we expect from him next season? The way the NFL offenses operate now leads to teams sending their nickel packages to the field more often than not. For the Cowboys 4-3 defense, that means three cornerbacks, two linebackers. When that’s the case, it will be Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith who we see out there, not Lee.
Damien Wilson was the team’s “starter” on the strong side, and he only managed to get 286 snaps, according to Pro Football Reference. That represents 28% of the team’s total snaps. Even if Sean Lee becomes the starting strong side linebacker, we likely won’t be seeing him as much.
Even still, I’d expect Sean Lee’s experience to play a big factor when the team needs Jaylon Smith or Leighton Vander Esch to catch their breath. Lee could jump in and play a few snaps at any LB spot and do a good job at it.
After all, we can’t forget that despite his injuries, Lee is a remarkable player on defense. He should still be one of the smartest linebackers with extraordinary instincts. There’s a reason why, before Vander Esch arrived to America’s Team, the defense crumbled without him. Last year, despite losing the starting gig, Lee still had 118 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and an interception. The longtime veteran can still play.
It will be odd for Cowboys Nation to watch Lee on a completely new role. It’s also hard to put the finger on what his production will look like at the end of the year. If there’s one thing we know though, is that the veteran will work hard every practice trying to get the most playing time he can. We should be excited about the team’s top three linebackers.
