Why did Dallas draft Leighton Vander Esch?

erod

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Leighton Vander Esch has spinal stenosis. Had it his whole life.

That's the same condition that ended Michael Irvin's career. And he wasn't a head-butting middle linebacker.

This condition was why many NFL teams took Vander Esch off their board before the 2018 draft. He was deemed too risky to take early in the draft.

Apparently dating back to high school and college, he's had continuous issues with neck injuries just like he's going through now. I wonder if his poor play is partly because he's mentally trying to protect his neck at all times.

Why would you draft a linebacker with a severe neck injury risk in the first round? What are we doing early in these otherwise good drafts in recent years?

We could already be looking at the end of his career sooner rather than later. He could end up in the same scrap heap as Randy Gregory, Taco Charlton, and Trysten Hill in the end.
 
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texbumthelife

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Who cares? They drafted him. He's a Cowboy now. Maybe let's root for him to remain healthy and productive as long as possible instead of rueing the day the Cowboys took him. Whether you agreed with it or not, that pick isn't remotely the reason this defense sucks.

A more appropriate question might be why did Dallas sign Monte Kiffin way past his prime, Marinelli way past his prime, Richards off being fired? Why did they play Byron Jones at safety when he was clearly a corner and sit Jourdan Lewis when he's so obviously better than Brown?
 

foofighters

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Leighton Vander Esch has spinal stenosis. Had it his whole life.

That's the same condition that ended Michael Irvin's career. And he wasn't a head-butting middle linebacker.

This condition was why many NFL teams took Vander Esch off their board before the 2018 draft. He was deemed too risky to take early in the draft.

Apparently dating back to high school and college, he's had continuous issues with neck injuries just like he's going through now. I wonder if his poor play is partly because he's mentally trying to protect his neck at all times.

Why would you draft a linebacker with a severe neck injury risk in the first round? What are we doing early in these otherwise good drafts in recent years?

We could already be looking at the end of his career sooner rather than later. He could end up in the same scrap heap as Randy Gregory, Taco Charlton, and Trysten Hill in the end.
Well, who did we miss out on? That's the bigger question.
 

visionary

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Leighton Vander Esch has spinal stenosis. Had it his whole life.

That's the same condition that ended Michael Irvin's career. And he wasn't a head-butting middle linebacker.

This condition was why many NFL teams took Vander Esch off their board before the 2018 draft. He was deemed too risky to take early in the draft.

Apparently dating back to high school and college, he's had continuous issues with neck injuries just like he's going through now. I wonder if his poor play is partly because he's mentally trying to protect his neck at all times.

Why would you draft a linebacker with a severe neck injury risk in the first round? What are we doing early in these otherwise good drafts in recent years?

We could already be looking at the end of his career sooner rather than later. He could end up in the same scrap heap as Randy Gregory, Taco Charlton, and Trysten Hill in the end.

we have a great FO, haven’t you heard?
:muttley:
 

Dunks3001

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Man this whole history of neck problems seemed to pop up out of no where. Is it just me? I know there are some fans who follow the draft real closely and they probably new of the concerns but I feel like most people didn't even know he had a history. I remember one time during his rookie season his neck plate was brought up by the announcers but they said it was just for looks and style.
 

BleedinBlue

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Because if we had another GM he wouldn't take the risks Jerry does for fear of being fired. Besides 1st round O-line I don't see where this team has drafted well recently. This FO has outsmarted all others , just look how talented this roster is from top to bottom.
 

blueblood70

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lmao last year hes the wolf hunter steal of the draft

Jsmith great pick(he leads all LBs in tackles this year and pretty decent in PD etc

both paired with lee could be the best LB we ever had , yup last year and all off season sentiment of all fans

this year because we are losing everything is magnified..

its not as bad as it feels or to most eyes.. you are looking through 6-7 GOLGGLE

THE ENTIRE TEAMS ID OFF THIS YEAR AND ITS TEAMS THAT WIN OR LOOSE , NOT INDIVIUSLS

AS INDIVIDUALS YOU SEE A TOP PASING OFFENSE WITN DAK , ZEKE, AMARI ALL IN THE TOP 5 , A LINE OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE GOOD BUT AS A UNIT THE penaltys' , turnovers, and missed assignments make it a group not in sync

The defense top 10 has some good players but as group same thing penaltys , missed tackles, not enough turnovers.,

ST- well thats a complete disaster and the most glaring need from the punter, kicker, returners and coach..

we are losing because the team plus coaching are finding new ways to lose each week/..

I still see the same talent we evaluated in the off season, the same ones who went 13-3 in 2016, 2018 7-1 down the stretch and a playoff win, and if we stop killing ourselves we can compete with the better teams..

all these individual insults or evaluations of players are just a knee jerk reaction to losing..its disappointing for sure...

Now on LVES injury , I saw the play that gave him the stingers and hurt his shoulder etc, I dont feel like it was something from whatever you think his medical past was, they brought him back too soon like Cwill guy would have never come back so soon after surgery and then got hurt worse.. the nfl has that happen heck KD in the nba did it.. part of sports..

BTW MI had long career and played tough and took a lot of shots for his undiagnosed neck issue...

let him fully heal, he will be fine..
 
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