Dallas Cowboys DeMarvion Overshown Getting Bigger in Weight Room for 2024 Debut

Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown missed his rookie season with an ACL injury, but looks to upgrade his game ahead of his second season.

Aug 1, 2023; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (35) runs during / Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

The spine of the Dallas Cowboys defense was supposed to be stronger in 2023 than past seasons thanks to an inflection of youth from the NFL Draft.

Instead, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown tore his ACL in training camp and rookie defensive tackle Mazi Smith fell short of his first-round expectations, struggling to make an impact in the run game and push the pocket on passing downs.

Without much in the form of upgrades, the burden will be on Dallas’ younger players to develop into legitimate contributors for a defense that crumbled down the stretch.

Aug 1, 2023; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (35) runs during / Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

America’s Team got some good news on that front before April’s NFL Draft.

According to his Instagram story, Overshown has done more than just rehab his knee in recent months. Posting a picture of a scale, Overshown appears to be up to 234.85 pounds.

While no one is mistaking him for a true run-stopping linebacker in the prototype of prior decades, the added weight is meaningful. Coming out of Texas at 229 pounds, Overshown’s weight was in the 32nd percentile at the position. At the pictured weight, he’d enter the 54th percentile for linebackers.

Defending the run was an issue for the second level of Dallas’ defense, ranking last in success rate against it in 2023. The unit managed to limit explosives, opponents were able to consistently pound the rock, taking aim when attempting to burn clock and keeping the offense two-dimensional – effectively neutering an otherwise explosive pass rush.

Part of those concerns were philosophical. The Cowboys were awfully thin at linebacker, and Overshown’s frame would have added to that if he was healthy.

Further, the team lost Leighton Vander Esch, its best run-stopping ‘backer, to injury early in the year. His decision to step away from football made that loss permanent. Former Mike Zimmer protégé Eric Kendricks is the Cowboys’ lone outside signing, but won’t patch up the holes in the unit.

Overshown brings rare speed and burst for the position, though concerns over his frame and tenacity persist. If he’s going to be more than a special teams asset and nickel linebacker on passing downs, adding good weight and turning it into an asset against the run is imperative.

He may never be a true plus player on early downs, but turning a skill that is projected to be a liability and making it average – like his weight – could go a long way in turning Overshown into a viable starter for Zimmer’s defense in 2024.