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If it’s supposed to be silver liners coming out of a season with seven losses before the week off, it’s because the Cowboys have the opportunity to give some big playing time to attractive young players.
On Sunday, that playing time went to rookie defensive end Neville Gallimore, and if his performance was any indication, his future looks a lot brighter than the Cowboys’ present.
Dallas drafted Gallimore out of Oklahoma in the third round of the NFL Draft last April, and Gallimore told Dallas media that night his “best football” was ahead of him. The Cowboys followed up on that draft with the signing of veteran nose tackles Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe, signaling a position on Gallimore: They were excited about his potential but saw him as a draft.
McCoy and Poe are no longer on the list and this project has been accelerated. His breakout start last Sunday came against the Pittsburgh Steelers and center Maurice Pouncey, arguably the best center in football. The rookie managed to make the game feel like a tie, sometimes making the most of the Steelers’ offensive line.
“I thought he was extremely physical and punchy,” Mike McCarthy said of Gallimore on Monday. “I thought he did a lot of really great things in Monday’s game.”
Gallimore finished with three tackles, a loss tackle and a quarterback. But it’s also not hyperbole to suggest that the constant thrust into the backfield it generated played a big part in the massive upheaval the Cowboys nearly suffered at the Steelers. A dominant run offense was a feature of the Steelers 7-0 season last Sunday, but they only managed 46 rushing yards against Dallas. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan claimed that the success of the Cowboys’ race defense “forced [the Steelers] engaging in another type of offense. “
After the game, Gallimore looked like a player who had just tasted the best of NFL football and felt comfortable with his chances going forward. “I think the only thing you have to do as a rookie is the adjustment,” suggested Gallimore. “Every game is against a great player. So having the opportunity to get my feet wet in the middle of the game —[I got to] get better and see where i can grow. ”
Heading into this season, the assumption was that the training ground would be Gallimore’s main space to shine. According to Nolan, Gallimore has always been a great training player all season. “He got better every week,” Nolan said. “He continued to work extremely hard in training and it showed yesterday.”
Opponents had sliced the Cowboys’ run defense for the majority of the season, but it looks like they may have drafted a run stoppage. Nolan said it was pretty obvious that Gallimore played his best game “yet”. The clearest test the rookie seems to pass is that he has reached the point of being “game ready”.
Nolan claimed to have watched the movie and it proved what seemed to be true at the time: Gallimore did pieces he wasn’t quite ready to do or failed to do sooner. in the season. “I think it made him feel good and I think he will build on those successes.”
The best way to turn winning seasons into losing seasons is to develop draft players. In a season where bright spots are scarce, the combination of Gallimore’s play against Pittsburgh and his reported training habits, his future with the Cowboys provides much-needed optimism.
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