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On March 6th, 2023 Jordan Schultz reported that the Cowboys are not expected to release Neville Gallimore and view him as an “ascending” player with high hopes for him moving forward. Are either of those statements actually true?
#Cowboys are not expected to release DT Neville Gallimore, sources tell @theScore. Dallas views the 26-year-old Gallimore as an ascending player and has high hopes for him moving forward.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 6, 2023
With the 82nd pick in the 2020 draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Neville Gallimore out of Oklahoma at pick 82. Neville Gallimore was 51st on PFFs big board and was considered one of the biggest steals of the draft. Regardless, to say Gallimore has been underwhelming would be an understatement.
In 2020, Neville Gallimore recorded nine pressures, one sack, three QB hits, five hurries, and 16 stops on just 416 snaps. A very solid season all things considered, like the mishaps with former defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, or the fact Gallimore had just 20 snaps going into Week 5. Still, Gallimore had his fair share of flashes. In his second career start, the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Dallas for a Week 9 matchup and Gallimore tallied a quarterback hit, three stops, and an 80.7 run defense grade.
Neville Gallimore recorded his 2nd career start on Sunday and had a breakthrough performance as a run defender:
— PFF DAL Cowboys (@PFF_Cowboys) November 10, 2020
-Run Defense Grade: 80.7 (ranked 7th among DTs)
-Run Stops: 3 (ranked t-6th)
-Run Stop %: 18.8% (ranked t-5th)#Cowboys pic.twitter.com/z4DETfX7o4
Due to Gallimore’s flashes in 2020, the expectations going into 2021 were sky high. Gallimore spent the offseason bulking up and it was noticeable during training camp. Unfortunately, Neville Gallimore suffered a dislocated elbow in a preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals right before the season started.
Cowboys DC Dan Quinn on DT Neville Gallimore, who will miss start of season with elbow dislocation: “He just had an outstanding offseason and training camp. ...We’ll certainly miss Nev’s presence and size and strength.” Gallimore has “rare stuff to him.”
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) August 19, 2021
Gallimore would go on to miss the first 13 weeks of the season, but racked up eight pressures, two sacks, six hurries, and nine stops in just six games (194 snaps) along with a breakout performance against the Washington Football Team.
Neville Gallimore woke up and chose VIOLENCE in his 2021 debut for the #Cowboys.
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) December 13, 2021
Welcome back. pic.twitter.com/YPVFVTAZuo
So despite Gallimore missing a massive chunk of his second season, expectations were once again high due to Gallimore nearly matching his 2020 seasons production in just six games. Gallimore would finally be healthy and would be able to play a full season with Dan Quinn, so how did he respond? He recorded nine pressures, one sack, one QB hit, and 11 stops on 422 snaps. Not only was Gallimore the lowest-graded run stopper on the Cowboys (29.9), but Gallimore was the lowest graded defender on the Cowboys in general (36.4).
Adding on — Gallimore has played the 2nd most pass rush snaps out of our DTs and is 4th in pressures.. the only guys behind him are Quinton Bohanna (2 - 71 snaps) and Johnathan Hankins (3 - 51 snaps)
— Defy (@defytalkcowboys) January 3, 2023
Carlos Watkins has 1 more pressure despite playing 41 less snaps https://t.co/58prokfNE6
So after tons of hype heading into 2022, Gallimore fell flat. Not only was he a healthy scratch several times, including the wildcard game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Gallimore was in rumors suggesting Dallas was shopping him.
Overall, it’s should take a lot for Gallimore to make the roster in 2023 if the Cowboys give him a sober assessment.
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