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FRISCO, TX — For a third season in a row, there will potentially be an upheaval of some sort at the running back position by the Dallas Cowboys. In parting ways with Ezekiel Elliott ahead of the 2023 season, they passed the torch to Tony Pollard but didn't attach a multi-year contract extension to that flame.
Pollard departed in 2024 free agency and Elliott returned, but only to be released ahead of the season concluding as it was Rico Dowdle winning the role of RB1 with the first-ever 1,000-yard rushing season produced by an undrafted free agent in Cowboys' history.
Yeah, it's been quite a ride at running back as of late, and it might get bumpier before it gets smoother.
Past: This is one position the Cowboys have almost always thrown capital toward, the glaring exception being when they instead flipped a running back for a historic amount of capital. That guy was Herschel Walker, and the team that got flee- … who agreed to the NFL trade that set the world on fire resides in Minnesota, in a deal that literally (and I do mean literally) launched the Cowboys into orbit as the dynasty team to beat in the early- to mid-1990s.
But, generally speaking, what an embarrassment of riches the Cowboys have had at RB in their organizational lifetime.
From Don Perkins and Walt Garrison to Calvin Hill, from Tony Dorsett to NFL all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith, from the late Marion "The Barbarian" Barber to Julius Jones, from DeMarco Murray to Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard — with plenty of solid backs in between — if it's one thing Dallas knows how to do, it's draft and develop at this position (hell, they even turned Darren McFadden into a 1,000-yard rusher again in 2015).
They've also had missteps, however, one example being in trusting Felix Jones to carry the load as RB1 and then repeating the error with Joseph Randle, who left plenty of meat on the bone before being forced out of the league due to a list of off-the-field issues.
But, for the most part, you'd be hard-pressed to find another club as good at, more often than not, eyeing RB talent as the one in Dallas.
Present: Elliott was under the impression, as we were all told, that the Cowboys would operate as a committee at running back, and they sure did give it the ole college try. It failed miserably though, much like the WR-by-committee approach did in the post-Dez Bryant era.
It became a muddied mess at the position, eventually devolving into Elliott being made inactive at one point as a consequence for behavioral issues, a laughably bad experiment to try and get Dalvin Cook involved and the outright dismissal of any notion of getting Deuce Vaughn and/or Hunter Luepke involved in the offense.
The lone steady hand was Dowdle, who had a career year and then some.
The problem is Dowdle now heads to unrestricted free agency, yet again, and he will be looking for much more than another one-year deal, having earned more stability after last season. There is the as yet untapped potential Malik Davis on the practice squad, sure, but not enough has been seen from him to label him a definitive solution in the event Dowdle walks.
Future: This all puts the Cowboys in a worse position than they were last spring, and that's saying a lot, when they tried throwing random bodies such as Royce Freeman and Snoop Conner at the problem, with undrafted rookie Nathaniel Peat also failing to pan out in training camp.
Where they go from here is anyone's guess, because if Dowdle walks, they're in dire straits.
If he re-signs, they'll still need to add a true threat as the complementary back, and whoever gets the offensive playcalling duties could very well turn Vaughn and/or Luepke into something McCarthy wouldn't; but that shouldn't stop them from looking at viable candidates in free agency to help Dowdle or, what might be the better idea, to use a Day 1 or Day 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on a coveted prospect.
If Kellen Moore gets the nod to become head coach, does the Boise State legend pound the table to select Ashton Jeanty, a bottle of lightning andHeisman candidate?
So many unknowns that will soon be very known.
