Oklahoma defensive tackle Neville Gallimore already has a head start on adjusting to life as a Dallas Cowboy.
The third-round pick just so happened to be training at Baylor Scott & White Sports Performance Center at The Star leading up to the draft, and he was in Frisco when the Cowboys officially drafted him Friday night.
Gallimore said that he had good meetings with the Cowboys at the Senior Bowl and the combine, but he didn't really know if they were interested in drafting him. The notion certainly grew on him while he trained, however.
"It definitely crossed my mind," Gallimore said. "I definitely love the Dallas/Frisco area. I was telling my friends that, in the future, I would love to someday live out here."
Being nearby wasn't the only coincidence and personal perk to getting picked by the Cowboys. He will also walk into a mentorship with newly-signed defensive tackle and fellow Oklahoma Sooner Gerald McCoy.
"When you go to the University of Oklahoma and you want to play defensive line that's one of the main guys that gets brought up in terms of who you want to compare yourself to," Gallimore said.
The relationship has already kicked off. McCoy reached out to his new understudy moments after he was selected. "He just let me know how proud he was, but that there is a lot of work to be done," Gallimore revealed. "He just let me know that he's someone that I could look up to and pick his brain. So I'm looking forward to that." Along with McCoy, Gallimore will also get to rejoin his former teammate and Cowboys first round pick CeeDee Lamb. "It makes the transition that much better."
The Cowboys used the offseason to add a veteran presence to their interior defensive line by signing McCoy and Dontari Poe. So, in all likelihood, Gallimore will be expected to contribute as a rookie, but will also be given an opportunity to grow into his role in the Cowboys' defense, which fits nicely with how the third-round pick would describe himself as a football player.
"Unfinished product," he said of his current game. "My ceiling is so high. I know that. The best football hasn't come out of me yet, but it's coming, and it's coming soon."
