There's a middle ground here, and the Dallas Cowboys seem hell-bent on avoiding it.
Nine years ago, we praised a team for not paying a lot of money for a running back named DeMarco Murray. To the right.
In subsequent drafts, I expected them to throw a late 2nd or 3rd day pick at that position to get an option they could use for years to come (Tevin Coleman, Duke Johnson Jr. ). They declined to sign either of them, instead using the duo of Joseph Randle and Darren McFadden (Kristin Michael also played briefly), benefiting from an impressive offensive line for the position. It's been a pretty complicated season.
Just one year later, the Cowboys drafted Ezekiel Elliott, the most premium draft talent of this generation, with the fourth overall pick, and doubled down on him with a massive contract extension in 2019. They seemed to have learned that lesson in a year. When Zeke was released for financial reasons, and after a season with the New England Patriots, the former rushing champion remains on the open market.
The Cowboys obviously can't help themselves.
The only plan at running back this season appears to be to bring back Ezekiel Elliott.
After letting Tony Pollard become a free agent (a year after putting him on the franchise tag), the Cowboys chose not to sign any significant players on the open market.
To be completely fair and clear here, the Cowboys did sign who And I did that just recently when I inked Lois Freeman. It makes sense that Dallas would draft a runner along with Freeman, Rico Doodle and Deuce Vaughn, but the player drafted will likely absorb the bulk of the touches, carries and attention.
The draft went back and forth, but the team didn't acquire a single running back. In fact, the most mentioned runner isn't even the much talked about Jonathon Brooks (acquired by the Carolina Panthers). The name that came up most during the draft process was the aforementioned Ezekiel Elliott.
Reports everywhere say it's inevitable that Dallas will bring Elliott back. Stephen Jones reiterated in his draft weekend press conference that the team thinks very highly of him and appreciates everything he has done for the franchise. While that may indeed be true, acting as if this is his main plan for 2024 isn't exactly living in reality.
Elliott played in all 17 games for the Patriots last season (New England did poorly enough to draft him third overall) and carried the ball 184 times for 642 total yards. If you're interested, his distance per carry is his 3.5 yards. Also, if he's interested, his longest run didn't even reach 20 yards.
The Cowboys can say Zeke will play a role alongside the likes of Dowdle, Vaughn and Freeman (assuming they all make the team), but does anyone really think so? Is there anyone here who legitimately believes, in a serious moment, that they won't go back to the well they're lining up to visit again?
It's a shame Dallas couldn't pick in the fourth round when so many top running backs left. dallas morning newsDavid Moore said if the Cowboys still had the pick they dealt to the San Francisco 49ers for Trey Lance, they could have gotten the pick they liked.
Fun fact, or maybe not so fun depending on your POV:
S Malik Mustafa was the 124th pick that Dallas gave to SF for Trey Lance.
Four of the next five picks and six of the next 10 were running backs.
Four of them, Bucky Irving, Ray Davis, Isaac Guerendo and Braylon Allen, were interested in Dallas.
— David Moore (@DavidMooreDMN) April 27, 2024
Interestingly, the Cowboys trading No. 15 may have been the first domino that fell toward them landing another one for Zeke.
It would have been a mistake for the Cowboys to have taken a runner in the fourth round, but this draft was always considered to be one player short on depth at running backs, so we decided to sign someone in free agency. He suggested they either do that or bring Pollard back.
Elliott's return is imminent and will be very exciting for the team.
