Dallas Cowboys: Review of first preseason performance

Linebacking legitimacy

The Dallas Cowboys starting linebacking corps has the potential to be one of the best groups in the NFL. Jaylon Smith is finally looking like himself and was absolutely prolific against the 49ers in run support. He also seems like he can dial up the pressure on any opposing signal caller and that is a good trait to have.

First-round pick, Leighton Vander Esch was also impressive showing off his incredible speed and athleticism. Now he may not have the same instincts or level of experience as Sean Lee, but LVE can be an incredibly effective starter for this ball club. I was worried that expectations were a bit too high for the rookie however he has easily been one of the best players during training camp and that seems to be the case during preseason.

Starting in place of Lee was veteran Joe Thomas who ended up becoming one of the players of the game. Does he look as good as the starters? Not really, but he is more productive than I believe anyone thought. He intercepted C.J. Beathard off of a tipped ball and showed great awareness.

He also made some solid tackles and managed to improve his stock tremendously in a short amount of time. Justin March-Lillard was also effective coming off of the bench which just showed how deep this team is at the linebacking position versus where they were a year or two ago.