The Cowboys’ riskiest gamble of the offseason backfired quickly, and a rookie might be the only viable solution
The Dallas Cowboys took a big risk by making DeMarvion Overshown their middle linebacker. And after Week 1, it’s time to start looking for a solution, short-term and long-term, at the position.
In the NFL, your worst fears can come to life very quickly. And while many things went wrong for the Dallas Cowboys defense during their Week 1 loss to the New York Giants, that fear is linebacker play.
After all, this is the same position that caused so many concerns for the Cowboys in 2025 and the one that was considered the biggest worry going into the season opener. And based on what we saw from DeMarvion Overshown, Dee Winters, and even third-round rookie Jaishawn Barham, it’s a justified distress.
Overshown’s play specifically is the most worrisome for several reasons, which we’ll dive into, starting with the gamble to play him at MIKE.
Cowboys’ Overshown gamble is the most serious concern facing the defense
Just about every educated fan, media member, and content creator could tell you the Cowboys lacked an experienced middle linebacker. And for some reason, the coaching staff and front office decided to move on as such. That reason, apparently, was their confidence in Overshown’s ability to take on that role.
Back in June, I described the decision to train Overshown as the MIKE as the riskiest decision of the year. Among the cons, I listed three things; inexperience at the position, lack of physicality and size, and injury history.
In Week 1, Overshown’s inexperience at MIKE showed up in the form of slow processing (whether it was biting hard on play action reps or failing to see Jaxson Dart take off running in the option).
Physicality was by far the worst part of his game, however, as he was overpowered when taking on blocks in the box. Multiple times, Giants running back Cam Skattebo ran him over for a handful of extra dirty yards. To put it bluntly, he lacks the size to play MIKE. And that’s going to be a hard, if not impossible, fix midseason.
The above is the one aspect of the Cowboys defensive struggles that I just don’t see getting fixed unless they literally stop playing Overshown at middle linebacker.
Unfortunately, they’ll be forced to find a temporary alternative. That’s because the third con I listed about Overshown in June also showed up way too soon: injury history.
The Cowboys linebacker exited the game early with a hamstring injury. Now, he’s set to miss one to two weeks, per head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Given his extensive injury history, durability remains a major concern going forward regardless of where the Cowboys play him.
Cowboys’ only MIKE option appears to be a rookie
So if Overshown can’t be your MIKE, what now? The Cowboys defense lacks promising options. When asked about it on Wednesday, Schottenheimer was non-committal on who would replace Overshwon while he’s out.
Dee Winters, who had plenty of struggles himself in Week 1, is also undersized for the position. He’s known as much more of a run-and-hit linebacker than a big guy ready to take on blocks. On Sunday, that was his biggest problem. His coverage wasn’t much better.
That pretty much leaves you with Barham and backup Shemar James. The latter also lacks the prototypical size of a MIKE. By process of elimination, Barham is your best chance at least in terms of measurables. But can the rookie take on full-time green dot responsibilities?
Barham’s effort was also an issue late in the game versus the Giants. Maybe it was fatigue, as many have suggested, but even if that was the case you just can’t have that from your MIKE.
And yet, right now, it feels like Barham is the best in-house option for the job. Which is not necessarily encouraging.
The truth is they need reinforcements
I do my best to not overreact to Week 1, which tends to lie to us in many ways. There are just so many variables, especially when it comes to an overhauled defense like this one taking on a brand new offense like the Giants’.
But if there’s one takeaway that I don’t think is an overreaction, it’s this: The Cowboys need to bring in outside help at linebacker. Whether it’s veteran Bobby Wagner or someone else, this team doesn’t have a MIKE until proven otherwise.
