While the Cowboys weren't exactly quiet during free agency this spring, there is still plenty of work to do for this team that finished 7-10 in 2024.
Not only did they add some key players in free agency and via trades, but they also re-signed some of the core depth as well.
Still, there are other guys on this team that must take that next step in order for the Cowboys to be successful in 2025.
Today, we'll continue the Next Man Up series with running back Malik Davis.
- Name: Malik Davis
- Position: Running back
- Experience: 3 years
- Games Played/Starts: 15/0
- Years Left on Contract: 1
- How Acquired: Undrafted free agent (2022 NFL Draft)
- Key Stat: 38 rushing attempts in 2022
The Past: Davis entered the running backs room in Dallas at a time when there was an embarrassment of riches. Signing to the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 NFL Draft, he joined a depth chart headlined by both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, and with Rico Dowdle emerging as the RB3 answer against others like Ryan Nail and an eventual camp standout, JaQuan Hardy. Injury at the position would give Davis the lane he needed to show what he could do in an NFL game, made active in 12 games and averaging 4.2 yards per attempt in 38 carries along with a touchdown; and flashing as a receiver out of the backfield as well.
The Present: Flash forward to now and a promising rookie season has since been introduced to an impenetrable steel wall, apparently, because other than being made available for three games (though not given any carries in any of those games) in his second season, Davis has been relegated mostly to the practice squad ever since — including the entirety of the 2024 season (and despite the Cowboys producing one of the worst rushing attacks in the league that desperately needed a solution of some sort). Elliott was released (again) in December, and Pollard departed months prior in free agency. It ultimately became the Dowdle Show in Dallas, but he's taken his talents home to Charlotte in this year's free agency. Once again, the Cowboys are undergoing an overhaul at the position.
The Future: That overhaul clears a path for Davis to potentially make waves in training camp, as newly-signed talent — i.e., Javontae Williams and Miles Sanders — push hard to solidify spots atop the depth chart. And then there's the unknown factor of what the Cowboys may or may not do to address the position for the long term in the 2024 NFL Draft. Adding in the wild card is Deuce Vaughn's reunion with offensive line coach Conor Riley and Davis will have his work cut out for him, but the former Gator is not a stranger to a challenge. This is simply his latest one he must figure out how to overcome, and that battle starts right now.
