Cowboys' Promising Rookie 'Ahead of Curve' After Lost Season
There was perhaps no better place for DeMarvion Overshown to make a public appearance as a member of the Dallas Cowboys than at a Frisco youth event.
The linebacker Overshown repped the Cowboys at an event hosted by Academy Sports + Outdoors. The 2023 third-round pick is expected to be part of Dallas' young revolution on defense, one set for a new overseer with Mike Zimmer replacing the Washington-bound Dan Quinn.
Overshown's Cowboys jersey has yet to be worn in any official capacity: the Texas alum sustained a torn ACL in the Cowboys' second preseason game last summer and was lost for the season. Dallas obviously recovered well-enough from Overshown's absence, but the de facto rookie is now eager to make up for lost time.
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"I'm coming into that room competing, and that's not just me wanting the starting job, because of course, we all do, but it's bringing the guys with me in the linebacker room," Overshown said, per Nick Harris of the Cowboys' official site. "We're all competing and that brings our linebacker room to a new level. I bring that competition. It's a newcomer coming in that's hungry for a spot. It forces everybody to want to play better."
"This ain't no setback in my career. This is me being ready so I can attack the season how I was supposed to last year."
Amidst the festivities, Overshown offered a positive update on his ongoing rehab, which Cowboys vice president/CEO Stephen Jones expects to be completed by the time the team reconvenes in training camp over the summer.
"Everything is going good. We're starting to move around," Overshown said. "We're ahead of the curve. It's just a process…This isn't what my rookie year was supposed to be, but you get up and you do it every day."
Overshown admitted that the lengthy departure has made him "more hungry," which is perhaps an expected trope from a first-year man who lost his NFL debut. But Overshown has developed a unique brotherhood in the Cowboys' medical offices, one that has taken a potentially devastating situation into a viable, inspirational path forward instead.
The rehab center bears a strong resemblance to the field: Overshown has satisfied his appetite for competition by working with star defender Trevon Diggs and undrafted rookies David Durden and John Stephens Jr. Their efforts and more have led Overshown to view his preseason pause as a "blessing in disguise."
"They make it so much easier," he said. "It's days where you can find yourself in a dark place, but you get there and you're laughing and cutting up with those guys and seeing that they're going through the same process."
"It will make me a better football player, a better teammate, a better man, and all of that in general."
