Last season, the Dallas Cowboys’ were most vulnerable at linebacker. With Leighton Vander Esch out for a large portion of the season with a neck injury and a lack of replacements behind him, several safeties had to try their hand at the position.
While Damone Clark continued his progression, Markquese Bell often had to fill in, and against teams with a good run game, Dallas got run over due to being undersized.
With Vander Esch now medically retired, the Cowboys knew that adding a linebacker in the draft was crucial. Eric Kendricks arrived in free agency, but more was needed.
Despite being named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award as college football’s top linebacker, CBS Sports has named the Cowboys’ selection of Liufau as the franchise’s most questionable pick.
“Dallas has had an underwhelming offseason,” CBS Sports writes.
“They spent the months following free agency trying to convince outsiders that they had confidence in the offensive line constructed in the wake of Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz’s departures. No one was buying it and they used two of their first three picks on offensive linemen. Linebacker was a need but Liufau was a reach in the third round.”
But is the pick of Liufau really “that” questionable?
Likely play some linebacker rotationally with Kendricks in Mike Zimmer’s defense, Liufau will surely also start as a possible core special-teamer.
Liufau has a high motor and plays with the kind of physicality that Zimmer loves from his defense, but often, he scouts say he can be a little overzealous, which “Zim” will need to reel in.
But by reputation, when Liufau gets downhill and recognizes what’s in front of him (good football IQ), he goes for the kill and stops the play in its tracks due to his sound tackling.
The Cowboys desperately needed linebacker help – especially with Micah Parsons now focused on playing edge – and depending on how Zimmer sets up his defense, Liufau might turn out to be a solid pick for Dallas.
But as far as a “questionable” pick? Just remember there’s a reason Zimmer gave his stamp of approval on Liufau’s selection.
