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Frisco, Texas — For the second year in a row, there could be some kind of shake-up at the Dallas Cowboys' running back position. After parting ways with Ezekiel Elliott ahead of the 2023 season, they passed the torch to Tony Pollard, but without attaching a multi-year contract extension to the torch.
Instead, they asked Rico Doodle to prove he was worthy of the RB1 crown and expected him to perform all season long, but the Cowboys rushing attack was too half-baked for my tastes. So much so that things never really felt the same – a point that also takes aim at the inconsistency of the entire offensive line.
Behind those two, they have two rookies and second-year talent, plus a new addition from the January futures deal, which is intriguing but unproven. There's just no way to know how all of this will play out ahead of free agency and the draft.
That means there could be a complete shake-up at the position for the first time since 2016.
past: This is one position the Cowboys have almost always invested capital in, with the obvious exception being when they flipped a running back to get a historic amount of capital instead. That man was Herschel Walker, and the team that got away was… The team that agreed to the NFL trade that took the world by storm lived in Minnesota, and that trade literally (and I mean literally) put the Cowboys on track as a dynasty. I decided to give it a ride. A winning team in the early to mid-1990s.
But generally speaking, what an embarrassment of riches the Cowboys have amassed in running backs over their organizational life.
From Don Perkins and Walt Garrison to Calvin Hill, from Tony Dorsett to the NFL's all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith, from the late Marion “The Barbarian” Barber to Julius Jones, from DeMarco Murray to They have a lot of solid players, from Ezekiel Elliott to Tony Pollard. If there's one thing Dallas knows how to do, it's draft and develop at the position (heck, they even turned Darren McFadden into a 1,000-yard rusher again in 2015).
However, they also had failures. One example is repeating the same mistake as Joseph Randle, who left Felix Jones in the RB1 role and then put meat on his bones before being banned from the league by list. Regarding off-field issues.
But for the most part, you'd be hard-pressed to find a club that's better or less adept at focusing on running back talent than Dallas.
the current:Speaking of Elliott, well, he won't be heading down the tunnel to the Cowboys in 2024 — probably, at least. The team opted to part ways with the former No. 4 overall pick and record-setting halfback in 2023 to pave the way for the youth movement, resulting in Pollard and Rico Doodle eventually becoming rookies. He was thrust into the spotlight along with Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke.
However, things didn't work out the way they had hoped.
Pollard was able to reach a 1,000-yard season, but it was felt to be “quiet” and lacking the usual home run ability he became known for heading into last season. Dowdle looked great spelling Pollard, but despite having success with the sledgehammer and sword approach during the Elliott vs. Pollard era, he never unlocked it enough to make it a true 1-2 combo in Dallas. Ta.
Dowdle played in a career-high number of games and had a career-high in rushing yards, but he only gained 361 yards on 16 attempts during the regular season, 505 yards from scrimmage, and only a touchdown. It was four times.
Deuce Vaughn was frequently relegated to the inactive list and ended his memorable rookie season on injured reserve. He touched the ball just 30 times, gaining just 80 total yards, zero touchdowns, and only one first down.
What about Lupke? As the season progressed, he at least showed promise, including in a role as a lead blocker, but he ultimately suffered a fumble on the goal line in a 22-20 loss to the Dolphins in December. Sometimes it happened.
But then again, at least Luepke shows promise and is moving in the right direction, while Vaughn will enter the 2024 season with eight balls or less. Especially if the Cowboys are looking to add another body to compete for depth with Vaughn and Malik Davis (who is struggling to crack the active roster heading into his third year). Even more so.
future: I think it's also important to mention the elephant in the RB room here. That's the fact that both Pollard and Dowdle are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents when the new league year opens in March – unless new contracts are agreed to by then.
Pollard played under the franchise tag in 2023, but don't expect that to happen again, if not impossible (quite unrealistic given the $12.4 million expected to be fully guaranteed). . I wonder if the Cowboys are willing to re-sign him as a bridge player for the future, or aim to return him to the definitive RB2 role (where he excelled) to pair him with a free player. It will be interesting to see if it does. An agency acquisition — Derrick Henry comes to mind here — or a mid- to late-round running back pick in April.
But considering his young NFL career was ruined by injuries and he left before his healthiest and most impressive season to date in 2023, Dowdle's tires have more to offer than Pollard's at this point. More holes remain.
That being said, Dowdle will probably be cheaper to keep than Pollard, but realistically you have to factor in his injury history and it's not a performance issue with Pollard.
I believe the Vaughn/Luepke/Davis battle will provide more than enough gunpowder in the barrel for RB3 this offseason and things will take care of themselves. Especially when they brought in Snoop Conner, who signed a futures contract in January.
But with Elliott gone and both Pollard and Dowdle currently under contract through 2024, the running back depth graph will likely look a lot different in the coming months.
