In the NFL. Photo: All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Boise State, 2014–⁠17

Leighton Vander Esch

Number: No. 38
Height: 6′4″
Weight: 240 lb
Hometown: Riggins, ID
Born: Feb 9, 1997, in Riggins, Idaho

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Leighton Vander Esch played at Boise State (2014–⁠17). The Dallas Cowboys took Esch in the first round, No. 19 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Best season: 141; Tackles, 2017 (Boise State, 11–⁠3)
National rank: No. 5; In FBS in tackles, 2017
Drafted: No. 19; Overall, 2018 NFL Draft (Dallas Cowboys)

16tackles, career hightwice; last vs. Fresno State, 2017 2sacks, career highat Washington State, 2017

Honors

2017Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year

Team titles: Mountain West champions, 2014 and 2017

Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.

Defense

Tackles, season by season, with his team’s record

141

10–⁠311–⁠3AP 22

Season	Team	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks	Int	PD	Hur
2016	Boise State	27	23	3.5	1	1	0	0
2017	Boise State	141	91	8.5	4	3	4	1
Career		168	114	12	5	4	4	1

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.

On the roster

Season	Team	No.	Ht	Wt
2014	Boise State	38
2015	Boise State	38
2016	Boise State	38
2017	Boise State	38	6′4″	240

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Game by game

2017 Boise State 14 games, 141 tackles, 4 sacks, 3 INT

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks	Int	PD
Sep 2	vs.Troy	W 24–⁠13	7	6	1	1	0	0
Sep 9	atWashington State	L 44–⁠47	16	10	2	2	0	0
Sep 14	vs.New Mexico	W 28–⁠14	13	7	0	0	1	1
Sep 22	vs.Virginia	L 23–⁠42	10	6	0.5	0	0	0
Oct 6	atBYU	W 24–⁠7	6	5	0	0	1	0
Oct 14	atSan Diego State	W 31–⁠14	11	9	1	0	0	1
Oct 21	vs.Wyoming	W 24–⁠14	11	7	0	0	0	0
Oct 28	atUtah State	W 41–⁠14	5	1	0	0	0	0
Nov 4	vs.Nevada	W 41–⁠14	7	5	0	0	0	0
Nov 11	atColorado State	W 59–⁠52	13	7	1	0	0	1
Nov 18	vs.Air Force	W 44–⁠19	6	2	0	0	0	0
Nov 25	atFresno State	L 17–⁠28	8	6	0	0	0	0
Dec 2	vs.Fresno State	W 17–⁠14	16	10	0	0	1	1
Dec 16 ✦	vs.Oregon	W 38–⁠28	12	10	3	1	0	0

2016 Boise State 6 games, 27 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks	Int
Sep 3	atLouisiana	W 45–⁠10	5	4	1	1	0
Sep 10	vs.Washington State	W 31–⁠28	2	1	0.5	0	0
Sep 24	atOregon State	W 38–⁠24	3	3	0	0	0
Oct 1	vs.Utah State	W 21–⁠10	2	2	0	0	0
Nov 25	atAir Force	L 20–⁠27	9	7	2	0	1
Dec 27 ✦	vs.Baylor	L 12–⁠31	6	6	0	0	0

2015 Boise State 1 game, 10 rushing yards

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks	Int	PD
Nov 14	vs.New Mexico	L 24–⁠31	–	–	–	–	–	–

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

Drill	Combine 2018
Height	6′4¼″
Weight	256 lb
Arm length	33⅞″
Hand size	9¾″
Wingspan	81⅛″^W
40-yard dash	4.65 s
10-yard split	1.56 s^W
Vertical jump	39½″
Broad jump	10′4″
Bench press	20 reps
3-cone drill	6.88 s
20-yard shuttle	4.15 s

Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

6 seasons, 70 games with a stat; latest team: Dallas Cowboys.

Pro Bowl: 2018 · Second-team All-Pro (AP): 2018

All-Pro teams: AP second team 2018.

Season	Team	G	Tkl	Sacks	Int
2018	Dallas Cowboys	16	135	0	2
2019	Dallas Cowboys	9	70	0.5	0
2020	Dallas Cowboys	10	57	1	0
2021	Dallas Cowboys	17	72	1	1
2022	Dallas Cowboys	13	83	1	0
2023	Dallas Cowboys	5	27	0	0
NFL career		70	444	3.5	3

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

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