Neville Gallimore has a lot of work to do to be considered an “ascending player” by the Cowboys

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?

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.