Dallas Cowboys: Jasper Brinkley adds depth to MLB spot

On Monday, the Dallas Cowboys added middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley to their linebacker depth chart in an attempt to add to the position after a couple of free-agent losses.

Brinkley is a 6’2″, 275-pound defender who can be a solid player for the Cowboys. He’s played in 33 games at the position in his first five seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings (four) and the Arizona Cardinals (one season).

Brinkley’s signing really catches attention. Is he going to take over for Rolando McClain (currently unsigned) and/or Sean Lee at middle linebacker?

Others are asking that question as well, including the Cowboys’ own official web page.

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David Helman of DallasCowboys.com reported the following on Monday about how Brinkley could take over the middle linebacker spot held by injured Lee (injured all of the ’14 season) and free agent McClain, who played extremely well last season.

"Helman wrote: “Brinkley is particularly interesting, as he could fill a void at perhaps the most tenuous of the three linebacker spots – the middle. The Mike linebacker job has belonged solely to Lee for the past few years, with the unfortunate exception being injuries, of which Lee has had many.”"

Brinkley is interesting, to say the least. Of his five NFL seasons, he’s twice finished with at least 75 combined tackles, playing no less than 15 games in each of those seasons. He missed one game in 2013 while with the Cardinals.

His best season came in 2012 with the Vikings where in 16 games he made 99 combined tackles (63 unassisted) with three forced fumbles added onto his totals.

Brinkley has totaled just one sack in his career and it came this past season against the Detroit Lions.

Oct 5, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) is hit after he throws the ball by Dallas Cowboys middle linebacker Rolando McClain (55) in the first quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

With the real possibility of Brinkley taking the spot held by McClain last season (if he doesn’t re-sign), let’s compare the numbers of Brinkley and McClain from the 2014 season.

• McClain: 13 games, 81 combined tackles, (16 assisted), 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 2 interceptions.

• Brinkley: 16 games, 75 combined tackles (21 assisted), 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 0 interceptions.

Now we can also compare those numbers to Lee’s ’13 numbers, which was the last year he played in a regular-season game. Lee missed the entire ’14 season with a torn ACL in mini-camp last May.

• Lee: 11 games, 99 combined tackles (31 assisted), 0 sacks, 0 forced fumbles, 4 interceptions.

Those are the numbers for the three middle linebackers for the Cowboys, and if moving Lee over to the weak side is true, in all honesty, I have no problem with that if it keeps him on the field. The most important thing for Lee is just keeping him healthy.

Lee has not played an entire season since 2010. The past three seasons, he’s played in just 17 games, so something will have to change to help keep him healthy and on the field in 2015.

This signing of Brinkley makes sense for the organization with the uncertainty of the 25 year old McClain’s future with the Cowboys and the injury history of Lee. The Cowboys at least have some quality depth, even if McClain does return and Lee switches linebacker spots.

Smart money says even with all these additions, the Cowboys will have McClain back for the ’15 season and most likely longer than that. He earned a new contract with his play from last season.

If we know anything about the defense of the Cowboys, it is they can never have enough depth at linebacker, so it is nice to see them address some of these issues before the 2015 NFL Draft kicks off. However, that doesn’t mean they won’t still use a draft pick or two to further enhance the position.

The Cowboys draft 27th overall on April 30, and there is a real chance they draft some type of pass rusher, whether it be a linebacker or defensive end with that selection.

With everything said, I like the signing of Brinkley. He seems like a solid pro who goes out and does his job to the best of his ability. He’s durable and can play a reserve role if need, and possibly even more if injuries were to occur again.

The Cowboys did a nice job in securing Brinkley on the roster, but now we wait and see what their next move will be to repair this defense.

Next: Cowboys: 5 late round RBs to keep an eye on

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