The Cowboys defensive tackle play is very bad, but Neville Gallimore continues to shine

There are a few defenders to be excited about on the current Dallas Cowboys roster. DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory, Trevon Diggs, and Donovan Wilson are a few that deserve consideration. One of the others is rookie-third rounder Neville Gallimore.

Gallimore is by no means Aaron Donald, but over the last month or so of the season he’s been very impressive, and by far the best interior defensive linemen on the Cowboys roster. Gallimore, listed at 6’2”, 301-lbs, has seen run at both under-tackle and nose-tackle throughout the year, but has settled in as the primary under-tackle with Antwaun Woods, Justin Hamilton, and Eli Anoku getting most of the nose tackle reps.

While Gallimore has been a bright spot at times on this historically bad defense over the course of the year, there’s still improvement that needs to be made in Gallimore’s game. While we’ve seen recently how explosive and disruptive he can be in both the running game and passing game, Gallimore still has his struggles when taking on double-teams, and holding the point of attack against beefier interior offensive linemen. But his flashes are impressive, and recently they are happening more and more.

Over the last five games, Gallimore has tallied 0.5 sacks, two quarterback hits, 12 tackles, and four pressures. While those numbers won’t pop out at you, that’s quality production from a rookie third-rounder, who is currently playing right around 50 percent of the snaps since week nine.

While there is still a ways to go before we anoint Gallimore the next big thing, there are plenty of signs from the young rookie that tell us the future is bright, which would be a massive win for the Cowboys front office who has mostly struck out on drafting and signing interior defensive linemen over the last decade. If Gallimore can keep improving week-to-week, and can continue to develop his run-game skills, he will be a quality tackle for the Cowboys for the foreseeable future. An offseason in a NFL weight-room won’t hurt either.