NFL personnel rank DeMarvion Overshown as a top ten linebacker

DeMarvion Overshown is regarded quite highly across the NFL.

The Dallas Cowboys have been looking for a linebacker with the instincts and talent to follow Sean Lee’s legacy for years. It took a few years, but the team may have found someone worthy of the mantle.

In Jeremy Fowler’s annual poll of position rankings, DeMarvion Overshown finished as the NFL’s eighth-best off-ball linebacker by various league executives, coaches, and scouts.

8. DeMarvion Overshown, Dallas Cowboys

Highest ranking: 4 | Lowest ranking: Unranked

Age: 24 | Last year’s ranking: not eligible (rookie)

“He’s absolutely amazing,” a personnel exec with an NFL team said. “Ridiculous.”

“One of the most athletic linebackers I’ve ever seen,” a veteran NFL defensive coach said. “He’s the fastest guy out there. Can completely take over a game and was really starting to get it.”

Added an NFC offensive coach: “He’s the second guy you worry about in Dallas, after Micah [Parsons]. Big run-and-hit ability, third-down speed to cover.”

Once upon a time, the Cowboys looked to have their future at linebacker locked up with Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith. Fast-forward, and both players are no longer on the team. Their careers were mainly derailed due to injury. For Smith, it happened before he took a snap in the NFL, and for Vander Esch, most of it came during his time playing in Dallas.

Injuries have become part of the tradition for all Pro Bowl-level players at linebacker for the Cowboys. Overshown missed his entire rookie season due to a torn ACL, but returned to the field a year later, becoming the type of playmaker the front office hoped they were getting in the third round.

As one NFL offensive coach pointed out, it was already hard enough for opposing defenses to worry about Micah Parsons. Last year, they had to plan for Parsons and Overshown because former defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was willing to rush both players from anywhere.

As one coach points out, there are things Overshown can work on to take his game to the next level.

“He can be a stud but has to really improve in zone coverage and when he has to disengage from a block,” a veteran NFL defensive coach said. “He can play man-to-man on any RB or TE in the league but zone awareness lacks. He does a great job using his athleticism to slip under blocks but if they get hands on him, it’s a problem.”

There were times when his aggression seemed to get the best of him in run defense or rushing the passer. While those moments can look bad in the moment on a highlight reel, they are easily correctable with more time on the field and in the film room.

However, once again, the question regarding Overshown entering 2025 is when he will see the field. Despite turning heads in just 12 games in a lost season for Dallas, he will be coming off a more severe injury to his right knee, where he tore his ACL, MCL, and PCL. Fowler points out, “multiple voters have serious concerns about whether Overshown can maintain a consistent NFL career because of the damage already done.”

The one caveat to that statement is that Overshown’s season that landed him on this list was coming off a year in which he tore a ligament and had a lengthy recovery process. He’s shown the right mentality and willingness to return to the field as soon as and as healthy as possible.

While it’s disappointing that Overshown will not see the field until at least halfway through the year, it’s great to see a Dallas linebacker make the top ten of this list for the first time since Micah Parsons in 2022 (he was quickly moved to the edge rankings the following season). Before that, Vander Esch and Smith were the last true linebackers to have their names on the list in 2020, but as honorable mentions.

Hopefully, Overshown can break the mold for a Cowboys linebacker and put together a productive and healthy career moving forward.