Dallas Cowboys: Top-5 training camp battles of 2021

Dallas Cowboys training camp battle No. 2

Linebacker

Now the fun begins. With twice as many viable players than positions available, this is going to be pretty amazing battle to watch. Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith are the veterans and both are healthy and expecting bounce-back seasons.  But they are going to have to earn their snaps in camp because the favorites are the newcomers.

Rookie Micah Parsons figure to be used a ton this season. He’s primarily an off-ball LB but has been used in edge situations as well. We should expect to see him bounce around his rookie season while the coaching staff figures out his best roles.

Keanu Neal is likely to get most of the starting snaps at WILL which makes it a competition between him and LVE. Neal is a Quinn favorite and signed with Dallas this offseason for a reason – to start. How the duties get divided should be interesting to watch.

Jabril Cox might be the best option in coverage so we get to see if Dallas schemes ways to get him on the field or stashes him for next year when the veterans depart. Luke Gifford is another fun player to follow. He’s big, fast, and athletic and if Dallas keeps six this year, he’s the likely option.

At the end of the day this whole unit is a mystery. We don’t know what roles each guy will play or how the snaps will be divided. I don’t think the coaching staff knows for sure either. This will be a competition and discovery session in camp that could surprise us.