As the Dallas Cowboys head into the final game of the preseason tonight against the Atlanta Falcons, the regular season will be here in less than two weeks.
The defensive side of the ball is likely to have it’s issues until they get healthy, and one guy may be in store for a big bounce back season, at least we can only hope he is.
The Cowboys drafted linebacker Damone Clark in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, and he missed the first few months of his rookie season after undergoing spinal fusion surgery.
In 2023, he had his breakout year, starting all 17 games for Dan Quinn. he led the team with 109 total tackles, but when Quinn took the head coaching job in Washington, Clark and Mike Zimmer were not reading the same book last year.
He only played 164 snaps out of 1,104 and started only two of 14 games last season.
Bounce Back?
Clark is now considered a top-four linebacker for the Cowboys, getting to play even in varied linebacker combinations with the first team.
Before the summer kicked off, I think many thought he would be cut, and let me say that if he does, that would now be a surprise to me. I think he is more in line for a bounce back season than to be cut.
I understand Liufau and veterans Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray are listed as the starters, while Clark is behind them. I think he will get more reps than we think.
He had seven tackles in the loss last week to the Ravens, and if he puts out another performance like that tonight against the Falcons, things could get real interesting when they face the Eagles in week one.
The one issue is that the Cowboys line backing core is the best part of their defense, so at times Clark may struggle to see the field again, or maybe he continues to give Matt Eberflus a reason to not take him off the field.
At the end of the day Jerry Jones and hopefully the coaching staff make the final call, but I have loved what I have been seeing from Clark this summer, and he proved once for an entire season that he can be that guy.
He looks really sharp right now, and I am hoping to see it again tonight against Atlanta, he could be a use asset on defense this season.
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