Neville Gallimore was a 3rd round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, 82nd overall. After a steady and strong campaign at Oklahoma in college, the Cowboys were hoping that had found their anchor in the middle of the defense. With the middle of the defense lacking any semblance of a pass rush from the inside, Gallimore was supposed to be that guy.
The Cowboys brought him along slowly in his rookie season. During weeks 1-8, Gallimore averaged 22.25% of the team’s defensive snaps, including two games where he did not even see action. Over the final eight games, Gallimore played on 55% of the team’s snaps and was a noticeable presence in the middle of the defense. Over those final eight games, Gallimore gobbled up 21 tackles, 3 for a loss, 0.5 sacks, and 3 QB hits.
Coaches were impressed with Gallimore’s improved strength during training camp as Gallimore has been putting in incredibly hard work in the weight room.
During the team’s first pre-season game, Gallimore went down on the field in noticeable pain, in what the training staff is calling a hyperextended elbow. Ian Rapoport reported late last night that Gallimore will be having an MRI later today:
#Cowboys promising DL Neville Gallimore suffered a hypertension of his left elbow, source said. He’s in a lot of pain but will have an MRI tomorrow to determine the severity.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 14, 2021
SI.com reported that coach McCarthy does not seem optimistic. This quote is directly from Mike McCarthy himself, “I’d put it in the category of significant, but really until we got all the scans we won’t diagnose it, so I don’t have a timeline.”
After Gallimore the depth chart is quite thin, I will provide an update as soon as we hear the details of the MRI.
Injury Update
It sounds like Neville Gallimore suffered a dislocated elbow, though no structural damage per Ian Rapoport:
#Cowboys DL Neville Gallimore, who left with an injury last night, suffered a dislocated elbow with minimal structure damage, source said following the MRI. He’s out 4-6 weeks, with nothing torn. Basically best-case.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 14, 2021
This is as good of news as possible for the Cowboys, as Gallimore should not miss much regular season action. He is a solid sleeper to roster in DT required leagues.