Penn State Football: Sean Lee back for another year with Cowboys
Longtime Dallas Cowboys starting linebacker and former Penn State football player Sean Lee is back for another year and expected to shift in the rotation.
One of the top all-time members of Penn State football’s “Linebacker U”, Sean Lee, returns for his 10th season with the Dallas Cowboys. He no longer starts full-time for Dallas, but he’s back nonetheless as the team’s third linebacker. Second-year star Leighton Vander Esch took over Lee’s full-time starting position after a breakout rookie year in 2018. Now, Lee moves into a new role hoping to add to all-pro level career.
Lee moves over to strong side linebacker for the season, which means he’ll still be labeled a starter but won’t play every down. The Cowboys typically use five defensive backs and two linebackers, leaving Lee out for multiple downs each game.
In fact, the Star Telegram article I linked above mentioned that last year’s strong side starter Mark Wilson played in just over a quarter of the team’s total defensive snaps. This might just be the adjustment that could elongate Lee’s career and streamline his play.
Although he was once a dominant, every-down linebacker for the Cowboys with two pro bowl appearances and an All-Pro honor, injuries have taken their toll on him. He’s never played all 16 games in any season of his career, which caused inconsistency on defense. When he played the defense was typically in the top half of the league or better. When he was off the field, the defense struggled.
The perfect move to keep him on the field and still contributing is a lower amount of reps. He won’t have to be that every-down guy but it still allows him to be a leader on the field for multiple snaps in every game.
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It is a tough move for someone with the career that Lee has had. For Cowboys fans, he’s the name that’s synonymous with any success on defense over the last 10 years. He was a great player in college and an even better one in the pros. He returns with 698 career tackles, 26 pass deflections and 13 interceptions.