The Dallas Cowboys started the 2024 season with a dominant defensive performance against the Cleveland Browns. One of the standouts was linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who looked like he was shot out of a cannon as he was flying around, making plays sideline to sideline. He finished with 11 tackles, a sack, and two quarterback hits. However, as to be expected, Overshown has some growing pains in the Cowboys’ back-to-back losses to the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens, and was afforded fewer opportunities.

Week 4 presented a new opportunity for Overshown to have a bounce-back performance in what was not necessarily a must-win for the Cowboys, but it was close to it. Overshown racked up eight tackles (six solo) and a pass breakup. What was noticeable was the way he looked even more comfortable in diagnosing plays and firing downhill, especially against the run. However, Overshown put on quite the display when it came to defending the pass as well. Thanks to his background of playing safety, Overshown showed his ability to read and react quickly and make great tackles in the space, which is a vital aspect of playing defense.

Before the season started, new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said that he would be rotating linebackers a bit during the year. After 44 snaps in the season opener, Overshown only played 18 in Week 2 against the Saints. After Monday night’s performance, it became apparent how important Overshown is to what the Cowboys want to do defensively, and it’s even clearer that he needs to be on the field as much as possible as the other guy next to veteran Eric Kendricks. With All-Pro Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence on the shelf with injuries, Zimmer may need to experiment with letting Overshown get after the quarterback to help with the pass rush which is something he did on the collegiate level at Texas.

Overshown is still very limited in his experience in the field. So, he simply needs to keep getting reps to further build up his confidence. As mentioned earlier, the best option to have alongside Kendricks at the moment, no disrespect to Damone Clark or Marist Liufau, is Overshown. After the Cowboys win on Thursday, Kendricks gave Overshown his flowers.

He’s just making tackles. He’s everywhere. All over the field, running to the ball causing havoc that’s what he’s supposed to be doing. He’s a good player.

It’s pretty simple from here on out. If the Cowboys want to maximize what they can be on defense, Overshown needs to play, and he needs to play a lot.