Bad News:”The Quest for Stability”The Dallas Cowboys  Search for…

FRISCO, Texas — There could be some kind of disruption at running back for the Dallas Cowboys for the second consecutive season. They handed the hat to Tony Pollard after parting ways with Ezekiel Elliott prior of the 2023 campaign, but they did not affix a multi-year contract extension on that flame.

Instead, they put pressure on him to establish his worth as the starting running back and relied on Rico Dowdle to cover him during the season. However, the Cowboys’ rushing attack was far too mediocre for my liking, which also speaks to the inconsistent playmaking throughout the offensive line. As a result, the atmosphere never felt quite the same.

Following those two are a pair of rookies, a talented second-year player, and an intriguing but unproven new addition acquired in January through a futures deal. It is genuinely impossible to predict how this will all turn out before the draft and free agency.

That implies that, for the first time since 2016, there may be a whole shakeup at the job.

Past: The Cowboys have virtually always thrown money at this position; the notable exception was when they chose to flip a running back for a record-breaking sum of money. The team that consented to the NFL trade that set the world on fire is based in Minnesota, and that player was Herschel Walker. The Cowboys were thrust into orbit as the dynasty team to beat in the early to mid-1990s thanks to this transaction, which really—I mean really—launched them into space.

But all in all, the Cowboys’ wealth at RB over their organisational existence has been an embarrassment.

If there’s one thing Dallas knows how to do, it’s draft and develop at this position. From Don Perkins and Walt Garrison to Calvin Hill, from Tony Dorsett to NFL all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith, from Julius Jones to the late Marion “The Barbarian” Barber, and from DeMarco Murray to Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard — with plenty of solid backs in between. Heck, they even turned Darren McFadden into a 1,000-yard rusher again in 2015.

They have, however, also made mistakes. One such instance is when they relied on Felix Jones to be the primary running back instead of Joseph Randle, who left a lot of flesh on the bone before being kicked out of the league for a number of off-field problems.

However, you would generally struggle to locate any team that is as adept at consistently spotting RB talent as the one in Dallas.

Current: In regards to Elliott, it seems likely that he will still be playing for the Cowboys in 2024. In order to make room for the youth movement, the team decided to release their record-setting halfback and former fourth overall pick in 2023, Rico Dowdle, and eventual rookies Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke. This moved Pollard and Dowdle to the forefront.

However, things didn’t turn out as planned.

Even though Pollard finished the season with 1,000 yards, it felt “quiet” and lacked the typical home run potential for which he was recognised coming into the previous campaign. Despite the popularity of the Sledgehammer-Sword combination during the Elliott-Pollard era, Dowdle never really broke free to make it a true 1-2 combo in Dallas, even though he looked fantastic spelling Pollard.

Although Dowdle participated in a career-high 16 games and amassed a career-best 361 rushing yards with 505 scrimmage yards, he only managed four touchdowns in 16 attempts during the regular season.

Deuce Vaughn spent the most of his first season on injured reserve after being placed on the inactives list and managing just 30 touches while totaling just 80 yards with no touchdowns and just one first down gained.

What about Luepke, then? As the season progressed, he showed some promise as a lead blocker, but he also ended up in the doghouse after a goal line fumble in the Dolphins’ final 22-20 loss in December.

However, Luepke did show promise and was trending in the right direction, and Vaughn will be starting the 2024 season behind the eight ball, particularly if the Cowboys decide to add another player to compete with Vaughn and Malik Davis (who is having trouble breaking into the active roster as we approach Year 3).

Future: Unless a new contract is reached before then, Pollard and Dowdle will both be unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins in March. I guess it’s also vital to address the elephant in the RBs’ room.

Pollard was a franchise tag player in 2023; however, that situation is unlikely to recur, despite being extremely impractical at a predicted $12.4 million fully guaranteed. In order to combine him with a free agency acquisition (Derrick Henry comes to mind) or a mid-to late-round pick at running back in April, it will be interesting to see if the Cowboys are willing to re-sign him as a bridge player for the future and/or with the intention of returning him to the definitive role of RB2 (where he excelled).

However, given that his brief NFL career has been hampered by injuries that kept him out of action before enjoying his healthiest and most successful season to date in 2023, Dowdle has even more tread remaining on his tyres than Pollard at this point.

Nevertheless, Dowdle would be less expensive to retain than Pollard—you would only need to properly consider his injury history, which isn’t a problem given Pollard’s track record.

I think the Vaughn/Luepke/Davis fight will provide more than enough gunpowder for things to work themselves out at RB3, especially when Snoop Conner, who signed a futures contract in January, is added.

But with Elliott out of the picture and Pollard and Dowdle not committed for 2024, there’s a good chance in a few months the running back depth chart could look very different.