OXNARD, Calif. – Let's call "The Committee" to order.
The "Running Back Committee" that is.
You know, how the Cowboys have labeled putting together their running game after losing last year's leading rusher Tony Pollard to free agency, along with choosing not to sign any of the high-ticket veterans in free agency or to spend a high draft choice on one during seven rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft.
So, the roll call:
Ezekiel Elliott, the ninth-year veteran back for a second tour of duty: Here.
Rico Dowdle, trying to sprout his wings in his fifth NFL season: Here.
Hunter Luepke, the second-year undrafted fullback: Here.
Royce Freeman, the sixth-year veteran free agent trying to carve out a niche on the committee: Absent, strained hamstring.
Deuce Vaughn, last year's Disney movie-esque pick in the sixth round: Absent, strained groin.
Malik Davis, in his third NFL season after landing on the practice squad last year: Here.
Nate Peat, undrafted rookie free agent: Here.
Snoop Connor, second-year undrafted free agent: Here.
So how is all this working out nearing Thursday's scrimmage out here at the River Ridge Sports Complex against the Rams, and just four days away from the preseason opener Sunday in Los Angeles against the Rams?
"All along we've had a lot of faith in the group as a whole, and I have no doubt in my mind with what we have in that room right now we're going to be able to take care of business and give this organization and this team what we need," says running backs coach Jeff Blasko.
If practice reps mean anything two full weeks into training, here is how everything is shaking out.
Zeke is running with the first team. Sure seems spry. Still powerful. Has made several one-cut runs into the hole for big gains. Still catches the ball well out of the backfield. Seems to be having the time of his life after the Cowboys released him in 2023 for salary cap reasons, then signing with New England to lead the Patriots in rushing with 642 yards in just five starts and 184 attempts and in receptions with 51.
He's back.
"Zeke, and I think I said it back in the spring," says Blasko, "it feels like he never left."
Looks it, too, and had the Cowboys signed him back for the one-year deal the Patriots paid him, would have been the salve for the Cowboys weak short-yardage and goal-line struggles.
Then Dowdle. Sharing first-team snaps with Zeke. Appears to be a sturdy one-two punch, as long as Rico stays healthy, which has been his problem his first couple of seasons with the Cowboys, landing on IR in 2021 and 2022. He's got burst and shows good tendencies of being a fine third-down back.
"Rico has taken his game to another level," Blasko says.
Then Luepke. We know how much head coach Mike McCarthy likes utilizing a fullback in his offense, and while the Cowboys did keep Luepke as an undrafted rookie free agent last year, playing in all 17 games, appears the Cowboys are expanding his role this camp, not only as a true fullback, but lining him up offset, almost as an H-back, and as a one-back in some situations.
As for Freeman, he needs to get back into practice, and would appear doubtful to get many snaps, if any, in Thursday's scrimmage. He has been somewhat of a pleasant surprise, since when signing him to a one-year veteran exception contract figured to be a potential camp body. He's been more than that.
As for the rest, they are just trying to make this team, or at least get signed to the practice squad since guys still can be elevated three times to the game-day roster. And as Blasko points out, the "committee" could change game to game, depending on opponent and specific needs.
"Running back by committee is going around the league," Blasko says. "And we are probably making a little too much of a big deal about it."
But now we're about to find out. As Blasko says of the upcoming preseason game, a better assessment will take place to see where everyone is "once the bullets start flying," meaning guys are being tackled, a truer test of a running back's ability.
- Little Big Man: Wrote about this guy when they signed him this summer, Willie Harvey Jr., another of the Cowboys' hopeful finds out of the UFL, just as KaVontae Turpin was from the USFL in 2022 and Brandon Aubrey from the USFL in 2023. Harvey will be No. 55 if you're able to catch the scrimmage but for sure in Sunday's preseason game against the Rams. Remember, he just arrived with the Cowboys two weeks ago since the team could not sign him until after the UFL championship game. But in two weeks, the 5-11, 230-pound linebacker has risen from "Who is that No. 55 out there?" to this coaching staff now knowing his name and getting reps with the No. 2 defense. And a few possibly with the starters because, "As he gets more reps, he shows us he knows what he's doing," linebackers coach Scott McCurley says. "He's an instinctive, productive guy." It was Daryl Johnston, UFL director of football operations, having watched Harvey lead the UFL in tackles, who said, "You think he's undersized until you see him play. He was great in our league." Now he gets another, uh, shot with the Cowboys in the NFL.
- Dead On: Kicker Brandon Aubrey seems to be picking up where he left off last season when the rookie converted 36 of 38 field-goal attempts, the only two misses being one blocked and the other bouncing off the left upright. And out here during the kicks we have observed in camp he has been 26 of 29 from various distances, one miss hitting off the right upright and another coming up short when that blasted wind blowing off the Pacific Ocean five miles away knocked it down. Says whatever he did last year doesn't matter, just must start with the mindset he's 0-for-0 in his career and continue going 1-for-1 on each attempt.
- Reinforcements: Feeling a need to bring some extra defensive experience and to beef up the defensive front, the Cowboys have signed three free agents, defensive tackle Albert Huggins (6-3, 305), linebacker Nick Vigil (6-2, 230) and linebacker Darius Harris (6-2, 238). Huggins had five starts in 13 games with Atlanta last year. Vigil started 12 of 16 games with Mike Zimmer at Minnesota in 2021, plus run game coordinator Paul Guenther had him two years in Cincinnati, where he played all three linebacker positions and points out while coaching with Zimm and the Vikings in 2021 the three starting linebackers were Eric Kendricks (15), Anthony Barr (11) and Vigil (12). That makes two linebackers now with knowledge of the defense.
- Camp Bites: First-round draft choice Tyler Guyton seems to be inching closer to returning to practice after missing this week with a chest cold, but at least spent Tuesday working out with trainer Britt Brown and was taking snaps with the first team in Wednesday's walk-through … Same for Trevon Diggs, putting the pads on this week and participating in 7-on-7 periods for the first time since surgery last season to repair his torn ACL, and likely will jump into some team periods next Tuesday following the Monday day off after the preseason game against the Rams … Secondary coach Al Harris on fifth-round draft choice Caelen Carson out of Wake Forest so far, saying, "I knew coming in he still was going to be raw but extremely talented, but he has done a great job of picking up coaching points and has been a joy to coach." … One thing most probably didn't know about defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina is he trains dogs to compete in dog shows, and says, "I'm hard on my dogs, like my players" … One minute in practice Trey Lance will do something causing me to shake my head, and the next he drops a wheel-route bomb into the hands of running back Snoop Connor in the end zone, causing you to think there is something there … A lot of one-day flashes during training camp, but first-year undrafted rookie free agent wideout Jalen Cropper is starting to show up every day of late, making his push to make this 53-man roster.
And while looking for different last-word candidates, we again land on assistant head coach/defensive backs Al Harris talking about the football knowledge of Diggs and what Micah Parsons meant when he called Diggs a genius at cornerback, the two-time Pro Bowl corner making a comeback from last season's torn ACL.
"Those are the things we talk about, what we harp on as far as the cornerback room," Harris begins on preparation and film work. "(Trevon) has the uncanny ability to catch the flash of the ball, so my job is to get him the proper reads and let him go from there. And I think the genius aspect of it is from where he gets his reads, gets his keys, and then it's him from there on out.
"He runs routes, you know what I mean. It's been a long time since you've seen a defensive player run routes as a defensive player, and that's something he can do."
And the Cowboys can't wait to get that Trevon Diggs back in the lineup.
