T-RO
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I recall at least two draft analysts who compared Vander Esch to Brian Urlacher, and that was before the season. That seemed a bit of a reach consider Urlacher is in the Hall of Fame.
I decided to take a few minutes and take LVE's current stats and project them out to seasonal totals assuming he plays the remaining 4 games. Then compare that with Urlacher's rookie season.
Solo Tackles:
LVE: 98
Urlacher: 101
Assist Tackles
LVE: 31
Urlacher: 24
Tackles for Loss
LVE: 3
Urlacher: 16
Interceptions
LVE: 3
Urlacher: 2
Passes Defended
LVE: 9
Urlacher: 5
Fumbles Recovered
LVE: 0
Urlacher: 0
Forced Fumbles
LVE: 0
Urlacher: 0
Sacks
LVE: 0
Urlacher: 8
QB Hits
LVE: 2
Urlacher: 8
In terms of tackles Leighton certainly measures up, though he hasn't yet shown Brian's penchant for behind the line of scrimmage tackles. They both came out of the gate their rookie years tackling like soldiers.
Clearly Urlacher did a lot of successful quarterback hunting, which is something that the Cowboys don't really even look to try with Vander Esch. If Dallas blitzes a linebacker it's usually Jaylon taking those duties.
I decided to take a few minutes and take LVE's current stats and project them out to seasonal totals assuming he plays the remaining 4 games. Then compare that with Urlacher's rookie season.
Solo Tackles:
LVE: 98
Urlacher: 101
Assist Tackles
LVE: 31
Urlacher: 24
Tackles for Loss
LVE: 3
Urlacher: 16
Interceptions
LVE: 3
Urlacher: 2
Passes Defended
LVE: 9
Urlacher: 5
Fumbles Recovered
LVE: 0
Urlacher: 0
Forced Fumbles
LVE: 0
Urlacher: 0
Sacks
LVE: 0
Urlacher: 8
QB Hits
LVE: 2
Urlacher: 8
In terms of tackles Leighton certainly measures up, though he hasn't yet shown Brian's penchant for behind the line of scrimmage tackles. They both came out of the gate their rookie years tackling like soldiers.
Clearly Urlacher did a lot of successful quarterback hunting, which is something that the Cowboys don't really even look to try with Vander Esch. If Dallas blitzes a linebacker it's usually Jaylon taking those duties.