Best rookie linebackers face-off: Colts' Darius Leonard vs. Cowboys' Leighton Vander Esch

• Cowboys at Colts, 1 p.m. Sunday, Fox

INDIANAPOLIS — Darius Leonard is aware of the debate.

Leonard vs. Leighton Vander Esch. Colt vs. Cowboy. The Maniac vs. The Wolf Hunter.

The two most productive linebackers in a rookie class long on defensive talent. Every time Leonard’s unbelievable rookie season in Indianapolis is mentioned as a Defensive Rookie of the Year-worthy campaign, somebody’s quick to make a case that Vander Esch is better, and vice versa.   

Leonard has heard about all of this crossfire.

He just doesn’t care. Not enough to pay it any attention. 

“I don’t,” Leonard said. “It’s not going to help me win any football games. What people say on Twitter doesn’t do anything for me, as long as my team’s winning, and I’m doing everything I can to help my team win, that’s all I’m worried about.”

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Both Leonard and Vander Esch have done plenty to help the Colts and Cowboys rebound from disappointing starts and get back in the playoff race.

Leonard leads the entire NFL with 135 tackles, leads all rookies with four forced fumbles and ranks second among rookies with seven sacks, along with an interception and four passes defended. Vander Esch, for his part, ranks seventh in the NFL with 108 tackles, has broken up seven passes and picked off two more.

All of these numbers have been hotly debated, tossed around as fans try to figure out who’s the best of an impressive rookie linebacker class that also includes Chicago’s Roquan Smith, Buffalo’s Tremaine Edmunds and San Francisco’s Fred Warner.  

A showdown of sorts is brewing on Sunday, when Vander Esch’s Cowboys travel to Lucas Oil to take on Leonard’s Colts.

But it won’t be the first time they’ve been around each other.

Vander Esch and Leonard visited Dallas at the same time during the pre-draft process, a two-day trip that included the two linebackers staying together.

“We talked football the whole night,” Leonard said. “He’s very smart. A great dude, a very humble dude.”

The Cowboys made Vander Esch the 19th pick of the draft, the third linebacker off the board, taken 17 spots ahead of Leonard at the top of the second round.

Leonard, true to form, hasn’t paid close attention to what Vander Esch is doing, what any of the other rookie linebackers are doing, other than when they show up in his preparation for Indianapolis’ next opponent.

“Only time I watch him is when the opposing team is playing against Dallas,” Leonard said. “He’s a good linebacker. Makes good reads, he’s a great tackler in space.”

The Dallas coaching staff got an eyeful of Leonard’s ability in its preparation this week.

And although the Cowboys chose Vander Esch, they weren’t surprised by the plays they saw from Leonard.

“Just a good football player,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s very active for them, a playmaker. He shows up. That’s really the impression you had during the whole draft process.”

Vander Esch’s emergence has been key for an established Dallas defense that could have been in trouble if the rookie hadn’t been able to step in ably for Sean Lee, the unit’s unquestioned leader.

Leonard faced a different situation, stepping into a young Colts defense looking to establish itself in a new scheme. By virtue of his play, Leonard has given Indianapolis a bona fide star on the defensive side of the ball, but he’s also a source of inspiration.

“He has just brought juice,” Colts coach Frank Reich said. “He’s a leader, he has just got a lot of energy. … For a rookie, just to bring that strong leadership, I think is just such an added bonus.”

In a lot of other seasons, in a lot of other draft classes, either Leonard or Vander Esch would be runaway favorites for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

But this class is full of impact playmakers. Safety Derwin James has been a versatile, aggressive weapon for the Chargers. Denver’s Bradley Chubb is threatening the NFL’s rookie record for sacks. Cleveland’s Denzel Ward stepped into the Browns defense and instantly became a shutdown cornerback.

“You look at this defensive rookie class, there’s some great guys,” Leonard said. “Derwin James, Bradley Chubb. Leighton, myself. You’ve just got great guys. It’s an honor being in a class with them. Hopefully we can all just keep balling.”

He’ll leave the debating up to the rest of us.