OLBDAL#55RES

Leighton Vander Esch

1× Pro BowlSolid Contributor📈 Late Developer · 2021

Height6'4"

Weight255 lb

BornFeb 8, 1996

Age30

CollegeBoise State See College Stats

ConferenceMountain West

Rookie yr2018

Draft2018 · Rd 1, Pick 19 · DAL

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Solid ContributorExplore archetypes →

A edge rusher with a developmental — a rotational or backup contributor who filled their role reliably.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 12 · #3518 · Role Player

Worth 12 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 77% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 4 of 6 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +3 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

4 cleared

2 replaced

Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

Avg surplus

peak +6

4 seasons × ~3 surplus ≈ VORP 12

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

3 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense													Snap Counts						Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2018	—	DAL	16	—	133	97	36	2	1	0.0	3.0	2	7	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	784	77.1%	181	43.2%	90	72	0.8	96.4	4.0	2	1	1	15	10	0.1
2019	—	DAL	9	—	70	41	29	1	1	0.5	2.5	0	3	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	510	85.3%	44	18.6%	47	37	0.8	112.0	4.9	2	0	1	19	13	0.2
2020	—	DAL	10	—	57	29	28	1	1	1.0	3.0	0	0	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	460	68.3%	40	15.2%	22	19	0.9	99.2	4.1	2	0	0	9	12	0.2
2021	—	DAL	17	—	72	43	29	4	1	1.0	6.0	1	2	0	—	0	0	1	1.0%	663	57.0%	87	17.8%	38	27	0.7	87.9	1.8	4	3	0	36	8	0.1
2022	—	DAL	13	—	83	47	36	4	1	1.0	6.0	0	1	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	746	79.0%	55	15.6%	31	24	0.8	95.4	3.8	3	2	0	17	3	0.0
2023	—	DAL	5	—	27	14	13	1	0	0.0	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	0.0%	269	90.2%	19	14.6%	13	9	0.7	107.5	0.2	0	0	0	18	1	0.0
Career		—	70	—	442	271	171	13	5	3.5	21.5	3	13	3	1	1	0	1	1.0%	3,432	76.2%	426	20.8%	241	188	—	—	—	13	6	2	114	47	—

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	VAL
2018	22	DAL	16	12*	133	97	36	2	1	0.0	3.0	2	7	0	—	0	10.2
2019	23	DAL	9	8*	70	41	29	1	1	0.5	2.5	0	3	1	—	0	4.8
2020	24	DAL	10	7*	57	29	28	1	1	1.0	3.0	0	0	1	—	0	4.8
2021	25	DAL	17	10*	72	43	29	4	1	1.0	6.0	1	2	0	—	0	8.3
2022	26	DAL	13	11*	83	47	36	4	1	1.0	6.0	0	1	1	—	0	6
2023	27	DAL	5	5*	27	14	13	1	0	0.0	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Career			70	53*	442	271	171	13	5	—	—	3	13	3	1	1	36.1

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Snap Counts

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2018	22	DAL	16	12*	—	0.0%	784	77.1%	181	43.2%
2019	23	DAL	9	8*	—	0.0%	510	85.3%	44	18.6%
2020	24	DAL	10	7*	—	0.0%	460	68.3%	40	15.2%
2021	25	DAL	17	10*	1	1.0%	663	57.0%	87	17.8%
2022	26	DAL	14	11*	—	0.0%	746	79.0%	55	15.6%
2023	27	DAL	5	5*	—	0.0%	269	90.2%	19	14.6%
Career			71	53*	1	—	3,432	—	426	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2018	22	DAL	16	12*	90	72	0.8	96.4	4.0	2	1	1	15	10	0.1
2019	23	DAL	9	8*	47	37	0.8	112.0	4.9	2	0	1	19	13	0.2
2020	24	DAL	10	7*	22	19	0.9	99.2	4.1	2	0	0	9	12	0.2
2021	25	DAL	17	10*	38	27	0.7	87.9	1.8	4	3	0	36	8	0.1
2022	26	DAL	14	11*	31	24	0.8	95.4	3.8	3	2	0	17	3	0.0
2023	27	DAL	5	5*	13	9	0.7	107.5	0.2	0	0	0	18	1	0.0
Career			71	53*	241	188	—	—	—	13	6	2	114	47	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 49 · Solid

A solid career by KV-H: a well-rounded profile that scores 49 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 6 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 48.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 49· confidence 94%

What builds the career mark of 47

On-field 31.4

Availability 15.6

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative sacks/g)

2018bestavg 442023

All-Time Standing

how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position

Depth

of 100

Reached 2% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

2% of the all-time Sacks leader2

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 86%.

Per-Snap Impact

Edge Rushers · proprietary · 2012+

Rotational

SIS

Disruption / 100 snaps:1.18See leaderboard →

Disruption/1001.18Snap share76.1%Def snaps3,432ReliableCV 0.35

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within edge rushers, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2018

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

EDGE · 2018 class

4.65s

40-Yard

Strong · 76th pct

Pos 76thAll 50thClass Pos 72thClass All 47th

39.5"

Vertical

Elite · 95th pct

Pos 95thAll 93thClass Pos 98thClass All 93th

124"

Broad Jump

Strong · 88th pct

Pos 88thAll 82thClass Pos 89thClass All 84th

20 reps

Bench

Low · 18th pct

Pos 18thAll 44thClass Pos 14thClass All 59th

6.88s

3-Cone

Elite · 95th pct

Pos 95thAll 83thClass Pos 91thClass All 80th

4.15s

Shuttle

Elite · 91th pct

Pos 91thAll 81thClass Pos 97thClass All 88th

Postseason Career

5 playoff games

Defense

Tkl44Solo19Ast25PD2

College Stats

Boise StateCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Boise State), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

2018 Draft Class· this player went #19

#11Minkah FitzpatrickFS #12Vita VeaDT #13Daron PayneNT #14Marcus DavenportDE #15Kolton MillerOT #16Tremaine EdmundsMLB #17Derwin JamesFS #18Jaire AlexanderCB #20Frank RagnowG #21Billy PriceC #22Rashaan EvansILB #23Isaiah WynnG #24DJ MooreWR #25Hayden HurstTE #26Calvin RidleyWR #27Rashaad PennyRB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Leighton inherited the Dallas Cowboys LB room from Jaylon Smith (2017–2021), and handed it to Micah Parsons (2021–2024).

Jack Del Rio 1989–1991Ken Norton 1989–1993Vinson Smith 1991–1997Robert Jones 1992–1995Darrin Smith 1993–1996Fred Strickland

Similar Players

Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).

Movementderived from season history

2023final season
Last recorded season with DAL
2018draft
Drafted by DAL — Round 1, Pick 19

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'4" / 255 lb

Frame

256 lb at 4.65s

Size-speed

39.5" vert / 124" broad

Explosion

20 reps

Bench power

Injury History

11 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2023	DAL	1	W6Out· Neck / Concussion
2022	DAL	3	W14Questionable· IllnessW16Out· NeckW17Out· NeckW18Out· Neck
2020	DAL	2	W16Out· AnkleW17Out· Ankle
2019	DAL	5	W9Questionable· NeckW12Out· NeckW13Out· NeckW14Out· NeckW15Out· NeckW16Out· Neck

Knox

StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →

Historical Knox · KV-H

Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 6-season peers. See all →

peak 51

Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season

C+2018

C2019

C2020

C+2021

C2022

F2023

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 6 seasons.

72%

Era Translator

Sacks translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.

Season	Actual Sacks	Sacks/G	→ 2025 Sacks	→ 2025 /G
2018	0	0	0	0
2019	0.5	0.1	1+0.5	0.1
2020	1	0.1	2+1	0.1
2021	1	0.1	1	0.1
2022	1	0.1	1	0.1
2023	0	0	0	0

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:combine, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

12 career value over replacement — #3518 all-time of 4,642. 2/season above a replacement-level LB.

Draft OutcomeMiss ↓

Pick #19 (Rd 1) · DAL · 2018 · -7.5 vs expected KV-H

49actual

56.5 expected · Δ−7.5

Fan Rating

Rate Leighton Vander Esch — All-Time

Tap a star to rate

Explore More

Similar Players

Keenan Robinson

OLB

88% match

Payton Wilson

86% match

Rey Maualuga

OLB

86% match

Troy Andersen

86% match

Kirk Morrison

85% match

Compare Leighton Vander Esch vs Player Report data error

Leighton Vander Esch

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2018

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2018 Draft Class· this player went #19

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography