You'd often be surprised just how well a car can perform when you stop putting road blocks in front of it. While this may not always be the case, it seemingly is with some of the young defensive players on the , including . The rookie third-round pick was mostly relegated to semi-rotational duty (read: bench+) over the first few weeks of the season, stuck at nose tackle behind Dontari Poe and . But when suffered a season-ending injury in Week 5 against the , a path to playing time blew open for Gallimore -- in a slide from 1-tech (left of center) to 3-tech (right of center).His outing against the notwithstanding, Gallimore has seen a steady uptick in his game reps -- going from just six snaps in Week 1 to 36 snaps in Week 8 -- the latter being
Teemu Selanne Jersey the second-most of Year 1 (he had 38 against Washington in Week 7).And with more time on the field comes a more rapid understanding of how to perform at the level, evidenced in his breakout game against the undefeated . Yes, the Cowboys ended up narrowly losing the contest, but Gallimore was a huge reason they had shot at shocking the world. He had just three combined tackles on Sunday, but also a quarterback hit on , a tackle for a lo s and multiple pre sures. Neville Gallimore strikes with power & leverage. Puts All-Pro Pouncey on the turf before hitting Roethlisberger! DLineVids (@dlinevids1) And owner Jerry Jones could not be more pleased with the progre sion."What should appeal to all of our fans and to me is the future there," Jones told 105.3FM the Fan this week about the upswing on Gallimore and . "But more importantly it just shows what play time, what repetition, what it does for any player. You
Rene Robert Jersey 're seeing that right before your eyes. Those guys are talented guys. "They, like any football player, have to have repetition and basically you get better with that. You're seeing it. I would tell you that I'm excited about their future. What is real excited is that they really have a lot of upside, both of them, a lot of room to get better and better."Gallimore has now logged two starts in recent games, and more are expected to come over the final half of the season, but only because the Cowboys are now piecemealing together a commitment to scale back on veteran reps at certain positions -- -- to allow young players to get the bulk of the work. Currently sitting at 2-7 in what can only be described as a lost season, the team is willing to let at least some of the young talent eat."It's just human that once you see things that works, you buy in, your own confidence buys into it," said Jones. "
Semyon Varlamov Jersey And then you just get better and better and better. That's the dilemma you do. You play a veteran player that can po sibly do it for that series or that game better, or do you go with a younger player that you allow to develop. "When you're having the kind of season we're having, you're going with the younger players and you're seeing it right before your eyes pay off for you."Gallimore trained at Baylor Scott and White Sports Performance Center at The Star just ahead of the 2020 draft, and when Jones gave him a call in the third round, he was literally already sitting in Frisco, Texas. The Cowboys had early interest in getting him to Dallas -- as evidenced in the multitude of meetings stemming back to the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine -- and he had already begun to hope he'd end up with a Star on his helmet."It definitely ," Gallimore said following the pick. "I definitely love the Dallas-Frisco area. I was telling my friends that, in the future, I would love to someday live out here." Wish granted.Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing in at a monstrous 304 pounds, the former Oklahoma standout is a chiseled specimen no offensive lineman looks forward to playing against. Having earned Second-Team All-Big 12 honors in 2019, he carried a high second-round grade on my big board, being an impact player who still needs just a bit of polish at the NFL level, but who is also ready to step in and make an impact if given a hefty amount of playing time. His power and first step are as explosive as gunpowder, and he has a motor that lacks an OFF switch.The native of Canada plays through the whistle, and isn't discouraged by double teams, and a huge
Lanny McDonald Jersey nod to his abilities is in how he was also the 71st-overall pick in this year's CFL draft, but opted to continue his career south of the border.Additionally, in instances where the ball carrier does need to be dragged down from behind, Gallimore relishes the opportunity as much as he does taking down opposing quarterbacks and planting halfbacks. As his skill set begins to reveal itself at the NFL level, he's thinking le s and reacting more -- something head coach Mike McCarthy has been waiting to
Erik Johnson Jersey see. "He's playing fast," McCarthy told media on Monday. "He's not thinking. He's an excellent example of what I was talking about earlier. He's obviously making the adjustments he needs to make."I thought he was extremely physical and impactful. I thought he did a lot of nice things in against the Steelers ."And for his part, when it comes to his ramping up to this point -- Gallimore rightfully attributes it to simply being a rookie at a position that has a long learning curve in the profe sional ranks. But with more reps comes more expedited growth, and the 23-year-old isn't staring backward at what he did on Sunday. He's focused on how he can build going forward. "I think the only thing about being a rookie is the adjustment," he told media following his impre sive outing on Sunday. "Every play is going against a great player. So getting the opportunity to get more than just my feet wet in the middle of the game -- I got to get better and see where I can grow."
