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Keanu Neal Embracing Position Change With Cowboys

Adam Taylor McKillop
Keanu Neal is embracing his new position change to linebacker as he starts his next chapter with the Dallas Cowboys.
Keanu Neal is embracing his new position change to linebacker as he starts his next chapter with the Dallas Cowboys. / Grant Halverson/Getty Images
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After five NFL seasons operating as a safety for the Atlanta Falcons, Keanu Neal followed his former head coach Dan Quinn and signed with the Dallas Cowboys. Quinn takes over as Dallas' defensive coordinator this season while Neal will change positions to weakside linebacker.

There's no doubt in his own mind that Neal is excited to this transition, as seen by his recent quotes on the position change.

Keanu Neal Position Change

Neal went on to discuss that he doesn't "categorize himself" as a specific position. Rather, "wherever they put me, I'm going to prepare to go out there and play at my best."

It's a great attitude for the one-time Pro Bowl selection to live by as he enters training camps. He also highlighted his desire to continue laying down hard hits on opposing offenses.

Throughout his five-year career, Neal owns 338 combined and 243 solo tackles. He also saw a major uptick in his ability to rush the quarterback, based partly on defensive schemes, but Neal recorded a career-high 9 tackles for loss and 3 quarterback hits last season.

Neal last played linebacker during his high school career. However, he plans to add six pounds to his playing weight this season (from 216 to 222).

The Cowboys have a plethora of linebackers including first-round draft pick Micah Parsons and veterans Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch. It'll be interesting to see the linebacker schemes that Quinn and the Cowboys roll out in 2021.


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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

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