Why did Dallas draft Leighton Vander Esch?

Dunks3001 said:

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.

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texbumthelife said:

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?

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erod said:

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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BoysForLife said:

Your recollection isn't exactly accurate.

We transitioned from 3-4 to 4-3 during Eberflus tenure and the LB group was probably the strongest part of our defense during his time here.

Even Bruce Carter played well under Eberflus.

I don't think it's any accident that our LB play has seemingly gotten steadily worse since he left.
We made a mistake letting Eberflus walk.

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GORICO said:

yes..we should have made him DC and paid him big bucks

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