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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys have relied heavily on running backs throughout their history.
Emmitt Smith is the best rusher in NFL history, spending all but two seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Cowboys. Tony Dorsett, like Smith, was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his 11 seasons with the Cowboys.
Herschel Walker joined the Cowboys from the USFL in 1986, and although the team he played for was not successful, he rushed for 1,514 yards in 1988 and was selected to the Pro Bowl twice. With his trade to the Vikings from Minnesota in 1989, the Cowboys won his third Super Bowl championship in his four years in the 1990s.
In 2014, DeMarco Murray was named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for a team-record 1,845 yards. In 2016, Ezekiel Elliott set a Cowboys rookie record with 1,631 yards rushing and won two NFL rushing titles (2016, 2018) in seven seasons, third in franchise history behind Smith and Dorsett. He became the all-time top rusher.
Elliott, who turns 29 in July, is expected to play one year with the New England Patriots before re-signing with the Cowboys.
But Elliott's return won't be the same as when he came to Dallas with the No. 4 pick in 2016.
And the Cowboys don't want Elliott to be that great of a running back.
In fact, they will ask him to be the type of back he was with the Patriots last season. He played an effective role in the running game along with Rhamondre Stephenson. He led the Patriots in rushing with 642 yards, the lowest of his career. He also led the Patriots in receptions with 51.
After Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft, owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked if Elliott could still be a starting running back in the NFL.
He immediately said yes, pointing out how Elliott finished last season in New England. In the Patriots' final six games of last season, he had at least 11 carries in each game. He scored three touchdowns (one rushing, two receiving). However, he averaged over 3.1 yards per carry in just one game.
Was it Elliott's fault or a byproduct of the Patriots' lackluster offense?
It doesn't really matter now.
The Cowboys are expected to go by committee at running back. This is reminiscent of the 2003 rush after the Cowboys released Smith when Bill Parcells arrived as head coach. Troy Hambrick was the Cowboys' leading rusher with 972 yards on 275 carries. Fullback Richie Anderson had 70 carries for 306 yards. Also handling carries were Aveion Cason, Adrian Murrell and Eric Bickerstaff.
Elliott joins a group consisting of Rico Doodle, Royce Freeman, Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis, Hunter Lupke, and Snoop Conner. The Cowboys have agreed to a deal that sends Missouri running back Nathaniel Peat as an undrafted free agent.
Dowdle was the Cowboys' second leading rusher last season with a career-high 361 yards. Freeman had 319 yards on 77 carries in 2023 with the Los Angeles Rams, but he has never topped 521 yards in a season since 2018, his rookie year with the Denver Broncos. Bourne had 40 yards on 22 carries last season as a rookie. Lupke, a fullback, gained 19 yards on six carries as a rookie in 2023. Davis spent most of last season on the practice squad. Connor signed in January.
Elliott had 300 carries in three seasons during his first tenure with the Cowboys. It would be unfair to ask him to do that now. He had 237 and 231 carries with the Cowboys in 2021-22, splitting time with Tony Pollard.
In 2023, he had 184 carries.
Somehow, the Cowboys need to find a way to improve their running game, which ranked 14th in the NFL last season while gaining 1,920 yards on 468 carries and scoring 14 touchdowns. right.
Beyond the committee, they will look to lean on an offensive line that welcomes two new starters following the departures of left tackle Tyron Smith and center Tyler Biadasz. They will select tackle Tyler Guyton in the first round and move third-round pick Cooper Beebe, who played every position except center at Kansas State, to center.
The Cowboys have expressed confidence in their in-house linemen, including center Brock Hoffman, guards TJ Bass and Josh Ball, and tackles Chuma Edoga, Asim Richards and Matt Waletzko.
April is the time to express that belief. It's also a time when we believe a committee-by-committee approach is effective.
That's just another question Mike McCarthy has to answer as he enters the final year of his contract as head coach.
