Cowboys rookie Marist Liufau impressed Mike McCarthy enough to top the Cowboys' LB depth chart

FRISCO – The Cowboys’ first lineup of the season features freshman Marist Liufau as the starting strongside linebacker ahead of second-year player DeMarvion Overshown.

Coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday he had approved the lineup.

“I think it's just a reflection of what he's done since he's been here,” McCarthy said. “He's been available. He's done a really good job, especially not just on defense but on special teams. So yeah, Marist had a very good training camp. Very mature.”

It was a surprise that Liufau, a third-round pick, was selected over Overshown, a Texan. But from the first preseason game until today, Liufau has been listed ahead of Overshown.

“I think the way we talked about the positions is an important aspect of the new defense. How many positions are being coached? That's all part of it too,” McCarthy said. “So just training him with Sam, [linebacker] and then he tries to distribute the other reps as well, but he has earned this place in the rankings.”

Overshown missed the 2023 season due to a torn ACL. He resumed training without restrictions, but Liufau has overtaken him.

Overshown may have been a favorite of former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is now the head coach in Washington. But new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer prefers Liufau, at least for now. It appears that Liufau, who has also played middle linebacker in practice, is a better pairing with starting middle linebacker Eric Kendricks and weakside linebacker Damone Clark.

“Hey, let's be honest. You don't just play with 11 on offense or defense,” McCarthy said. “I mean, normally [it’s] more like 14 guys that you would consider starting. And this thing goes even further than the lineup because when you want to announce an offense or a defense, you never announce just 11 guys on the teams that I've played on. So I think it's a product of that. So it's going to take more than one running back as well. That's just not how we want to play. I don't want to get into rotation. We can talk more about that next week, but those guys are all going to play.”

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