FRISCO, TX — Turn your music down and your television off and, if you can, ask the kids to be quiet for roughly 10 seconds, if that. Ready? OK, now listen carefully for what should sound like the cries of a wounded animal in the distance, and know that isn't actually an animal at all — it's a Dallas Cowboys' fan who refuses to understand the running back situation for 2024.
As such, their leg is stuck in a bear trap that they hold the key to.
Bless their heart.
As for the rest of us, let's talk about what the committee approach will actually look like for the season to come, though it will require you to step outside of your traditional train of thought, seeing as there is no true starter in the RBs room in Dallas, despite there being one on the RBs depth chart because, unless I missed my guess, the NFL requires teams to put a name in that spot.
The first unofficial depth chart of the season, delivered just ahead of the Week 1 matchup between the Cowboys and the Browns, featured Ezekiel Elliott as the supposed lead back, but that's simply not the reality of the situation.
Does it matter who takes the first snap if that's not who eventually takes the most?
Stick with me on this.
Elliott, a former two-time NFL rushing champ will most certainly get his touches in his first season back with the Cowboys, undoubtedly, but does that mean he's guaranteed to out-touch Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke every single week?
I'll say this in English and Spanish for you:
No.
Shouts out to Somos Cowboys, by the way.
Mike McCarthy's plan for the rushing attack first began with revamping and upgrading the offensive line with a first-round pick (Tyler Guyton) and a third-round pick (Cooper Beebe), and that has to be noted as what I believe will be the primary reason this year should be different over last year's struggles — in addition to Elliott coming back to help resolve the short yardage issue that took center stage in the one year he was out of Dallas.
That said, there will be weeks where Elliott will have more touches and/or yards than Dowdle, and there will be weeks when Dowdle has more touches and/or yards than Elliott. There will be weeks when Deuce Vaughn might surprise everyone and be the lead back for a particular game, and though it's doubtful Hunter Luepke will ever be in that specific conversation, he will see a serious uptick in his touches over his rookie season.
The latter is a foregone conclusion.
And when looking at what the 2023 production of each running back, respective to their situation at the time, it's not difficult to ascertain why McCarthy continues to hammer home his plan of not handcuffing his offense to a specific RB for his "21-game plan", but rather letting it happen organically depending on opponent and in-game situation.
For the sake of making this all reasonable, I'll only discuss those with a high likelihood of taking meaningful snaps in 2024.
*per Next Gen Stats
Ezekiel Elliott:
- 642 rushing yards
- 3 rushing touchdowns
- 3.5 yards per carry
- 34.2% success rate
- 8 runs of 10+ yards
- 31.9% Rush Yards Over Expected (ROE)
- Light box (6 defenders): 51.6% (95 attempts)
- Neutral (7 defenders): 30.4% (56 attempts)
- Stacked (8+ defenders): 17.9% (33 attempts)
Rico Dowdle:
- 361 rushing yards
- 2 rushing touchdowns
- 4.1 yards per carry
- 37.1% success rate
- 7 runs 10+ yards
- 34.1% ROE
- Light box (6 defenders): 50.6% (45 attempts)
- Neutral (7 defenders): 29.2% (26 attempts)
- Stacked (8+ defenders): 20.2% (18 attempts)
Deuce Vaughn:
- 40 rushing yards
- 0 rushing touchdowns
- 1.7 yards per carry
- 17.4% success rate
- 1 run 10+ yards
- 10.5% ROE
- Light box (6 defenders): 26.1% (6 attempts)
- Neutral (7 defenders): 34.8% (8 attempts)
- Stacked (8+ defenders): 39.1% (9 attempts)
Hunter Luepke:
- 19 rushing yards
- 1 rushing touchdown
- 3.2 yards per carry
- 83.3% success rate
- 0 runs 10+ yards
- 16.7% ROE (only RB in the group with 0% stuff rate in 2023)
- Light box (6 defenders): 16.7% (1 attempts)
- Neutral (7 defenders): 66.7% (4 attempts)
- Stacked (8+ defenders): 16.7% (1 attempts)
Dalvin Cook:
- 214 rushing yards
- 0 rushing touchdowns
- 3.2 yards per carry
- 22.4% success rate
- 4 runs 10+ yards
- 23.9% ROE
- Light box (6 defenders): 46.3% (31 attempts)
- Neutral (7 defenders): 37.3% (25 attempts)
- Stacked (8+ defenders): 16.4% (11 attempts)
The numbers, and film, bear out one immutable fact: Elliott and Dowdle were productive last season for the Patriots and Cowboys, respectively, but both struggled with consistent explosiveness on a down-to-down basis. But not unlike the Sledgehammer and the Sword theory that was successfully tested during the Elliott-Pollard regime, the Elliott-Dowdle era can look much the same.
There were times when the game plan in those seasons featured Pollard more in a game than Elliott and, at times, vice versa, and the current situation in Dallas is even more heavily tilted toward involving not one, but two additional backs to ensure the job, as a whole, is getting done.
For contrast, let's look at what CeeDee Lamb did in 2023 as a running back, to further illustrate my point of how the committee approach isn't simply mediaspeak.
CeeDee Lamb:
- 113 rushing yards
- 2 yards per carry (14 attempts)
- 85.7% success rate
- 4 runs 10+ yards
- 50% ROE
- Light box (6 defenders): 64.3% (9 attempts)
- Neutral (7 defenders): 28.6% (4 attempts)
- Stacked (8+ defenders): 7.1% (1 attempts)
Hell, the franchise receiver will be involved as well, on occasion, as will KaVontae Turpin.
Speaking of the ability to play receiver, let's take a peek now at that ability within the current roster of running backs, again based on 2023 production.
Ezekiel Elliott:
- 65 targets
- 51 receptions
- 313 receiving yards
- 2 receiving touchdowns
Rico Dowdle:
- 22 targets
- 17 receptions
- 144 receiving yards
- 2 receiving touchdowns
Deuce Vaughn:
- 7 targets
- 7 receptions
- 40 receiving yards
- 0 receiving touchdowns
Hunter Luepke:
- 4 targets
- 3 receptions
- 18 receiving yards
- 0 receiving touchdowns
Dalvin Cook:
- 20 targets
- 15 receptions
- 78 receiving yards
- 0 receiving touchdowns
There are several positives to take away from all of this (and film), in that Elliott still has tread remaining on his tires, and also as a receiver out of the backfield, quiet as it's kept, while Dowdle, who also has that tool in his bag, is also effective on the ground more often than not.
It's interesting that Vaughn drew the highest number of stacked boxes while Elliott drew the least, seeing as one would think that that would be inverted, only it isn't, and that explains some of Vaughn's struggles as a rookie. It will be quite the challenge for teams to stack the box against this Cowboys' offense, versus any of the RBs, considering the firepower at quarterback, wide receiver and tight end.
That's almost literally why Dowdle only faced them 20 percent of the time, and Tony Pollard saw a stacked defensive box a team-low 11.1 percent.
There will be plenty of chances for each running back to eat.
It's a buffet line. Not a coronation ceremony.
The bottom line here is there is no bell cow in Dallas. There is instead a stable of them all fully capable of milking their opportunities behind a reworked offensive line.
I mean, I get it, whilst also spitting in the direction of it: Enragement Engagement on social media is a thing, and some continue to bite into it so hard they're probably walking around with chipped teeth.
Thank God for dental insurance, amirite?
But for those who have been paying attention to not only the moves the Cowboys have made (and have not made, e.g., the 2024 NFL Draft) at the position, the daily analysis of training camp trends, the recent successes and struggles of each of the RBs on the depth chart, and the list of times McCarthy has laid out his plan directly — good job not putting your leg in the bear trap.
And for the ones who have, look in your right-hand pocket, because the key is in there and has been this entire time. You can let yourself out now, and go clean yourself up.
Hurry up, please. You're bleeding all over my carpet.
