Philadelphia Eagles rival watch: Dallas adds Leighton Vander Esch
The Cowboys can, now, lay claim to beating the Philadelphia Eagles at something (meaningless games at the end of a season don’t count).
The Dallas Cowboys, the longtime home to one of the most delusional fanbases on Planet Earth, finally have something to brag about. Recently, they’ve been heard thanks to their taunts of the Philadelphia Eagles and the best fans in the world. As usual, it wasn’t worth listening to.
They were just echoing their owner, Jerry Jones, who recently tried to ease some of his own pain by comparing Philly’s one Super Bowl victory to the five the Cowboys can claim. Never mind the fact that we can watch footage of the Eagles’ most recent Super Bowl victory on Blu-Ray, and we have to watch Cowboys’ Super Bowl highlights on a VHS cassette.
The Cowboys actually get somebody the Eagles wanted.
None of that is actually important however. What is important is the 2018 NFL Draft. The Cowboys, with their first pick in the annual selection meeting, decided to address their defensive needs. They may have struck gold in the process.
With the 19th pick, they took Boise State’s Leighton Vander Esch. The Eagles may not lose a ton of sleep over this one, but it’s also common knowledge that Philly did have a genuine interest in him.
They hosted him on a pre-draft visit, and with Philly’s needs at the second level of the defense, no one would have complained if he would have been around when the Eagles were ready to make their first selection.
Here’s some of what NFL.com had to say in their draft profile:
"Vander Esch is a loose-hipped, instinctive linebacker who played in 2017 like he had a GPS tracker on the football. His production totals against both the run and pass are rare for being a first-year starter and with a frame that is primed for more muscle, his NFL ceiling is high. Vander Esch might benefit from a reduced role his rookie season while he improves his play strength and becomes more skilled at taking on blocks. He’s an every-down linebacker with very good starting potential and the talent to fill up a stat sheet."
As interesting as all of that is, the most important thing for Eagles fans to remember about all of this is Vander Esch is the enemy now. He’s got that star on his helmet. To the Eagles and their fans, it might as well be a bulls eye.