In one of his first public comments of the offseason at the Senior Bowl, owner and GM Jerry Jones singled out the Dallas Cowboys’ running game as one of the key areas in need of improvement next season.
The running game has been an emphasis in Dallas long before Mike McCarthy’s “run the damn ball” comment last offseason. The end of the Tony Romo era featured DeMarco Murray in the offense, and the Dak Prescott era was launched in unison with running back Ezekiel Elliott’s selection at No. 4 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Last season, the Cowboys played without Elliott for the first time since 2016 and handed the keys to the running game to Tony Pollard.
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The results were mediocre. The Cowboys finished 14th in total rushing yards and tied for 16th in yards per attempt. Pollard’s 4.0 yards per rush tied for 27th in the league.
Figuring out how to improve the run game so that it can be a weapon — at least situationally — will be a storyline all offseason. Personnel changes and upgrades will be an obvious thing to point to but Cowboys’ executive vice president Stephen Jones started from the top.
“I think it’s everything,” Jones said. “I think we have to continue to look at our schemes and what we’re doing there. I know Mike (McCarthy) certainly, as you well know when you talk to Mike, he wants to run the football well. He thinks, at the end of the day, a very important part of the offense is to be able to run it effectively.
“Then you’re looking at how we do that, how we coach it up. You’re looking at the players, the personnel, the whole nine yards. I don’t think it’s any one thing. I think you have to look at it holistically and then come back and say, ‘Here are the changes we’re going to make to be better.’”
Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, Will McClay watching the running backs run the 40-yard dash pic.twitter.com/rkAa6V2EQl
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) March 2, 2024
Unlike the defensive side, the Cowboys’ offensive brain trust (spearheaded by retaining McCarthy) is returning. The onus will be on McCarthy to evolve the scheme, whether it’s making changes regardless of personnel or doing a better job to fit the scheme to the personnel on hand. That includes not just who is running the ball but the situation up front, which is in flux headed into free agency on the left side and in the middle.
That’s all part of last season’s struggles.
How much of it was because the Cowboys didn’t evolve from the scheme that worked for Elliott to better cater to Pollard, who brought a different set of strengths to the position? How much of it was a lackluster showing from the offensive line that had health issues early and never performed up to expectations in the run game?
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McCarthy, running backs coach Jeff Blasko, offensive line coach Mike Solari and the rest of the coaching staff will have plenty of time to figure out that foundational element. Meanwhile, Jones and the front office need to push the right buttons at running back through free agency and the draft. Let’s examine how the Cowboys can improve at the position in 2024.
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In-house outlook
The Cowboys have Malik Davis, Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke under contract. They have 67 NFL carries among them, with Davis getting some burn in 2022 and Vaughn underwhelming last season as a rookie after flashing in training camp and preseason.
Luepke (six carries, 19 yards, one TD in 2023), an undrafted rookie last year, could be the one who most factors in to the solution. It wouldn’t be as a lead back — or even as a ball carrier at all — but McCarthy and the Cowboys remain high on Luepke carving out a role in the offense. McCarthy has a history of utilizing the fullback for nearly a decade in Green Bay with John Kuhn and that comparison was brought up more than once last season after Luepke surprisingly made the team out of training camp. Luepke’s role would be about blocking and scheme fit than anything related to making plays carrying the ball. As much as Kuhn was valued by McCarthy in Green Bay, he only had more than 30 carries once in nine years — 84 in the Super Bowl-winning season in 2010.
Vaughn hasn’t shown anything of substance against real NFL competition and Davis is a solid depth piece. In terms of actual running backs in the ball-carrier role, the Cowboys don’t have anybody on the roster right now.
Free-agent options
Let’s begin with the most familiar names: Pollard and Rico Dowdle. The Cowboys opted to not place the franchise tag on Pollard so he will test the market. For the right term and right price, exploring Pollard as part of the running game isn’t a terrible idea. However, it has to be done in a team-friendly manner and can’t be the only notable move at the position. Pollard may be better more than a year removed from his injury but he hasn’t proven to be anything more than a supplemental piece. Even if Pollard returns, his usage — volume and style — would need to change.
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Dowdle (89-361-2) was solid last season in his limited opportunities and can be had at a fair price to be a depth piece. One way or the other, it doesn’t register on the scale in the Cowboys’ efforts to be better at the position.
The external options have some intrigue. Derrick Henry is a popular name linked to the Cowboys recently. As a free agent, the Cowboys could look to bring him in on a short-term deal but it comes with obvious risks. Henry is a bruiser who turned 30 a couple of months ago. His 2,000-yard season in 2020 feels like a lifetime ago but his durability the past two seasons has been impressive. With the right combination of backs on the roster, Henry could be a nice fit.
Saquon Barkley is one of the top running backs available. Although Barkley has played in at least 13 games in each of the last three seasons, he’s often playing through injuries and hasn’t played every game since his rookie year in 2018. He is a multidimensional back who could be viewed as a lead back in a pass-first offense.
Josh Jacobs, Gus Edwards and D’Andre Swift could also provide a boost. There are a handful of other players available but they each come with their own red flags that the Cowboys will have to consider. It is important for the Cowboys to not get into a bidding war and overpay for a player at a position that has proven to be expendable and quickly drops off a cliff.
Draft philosophy
The Cowboys are light on middle-round draft picks:
• Their fourth-round pick was used to acquire Trey Lance last summer.
• Their fifth-round pick went in a move to select Eric Scott Jr. in last year’s draft.
• Their sixth-round pick went to Houston in the trade for Brandin Cooks.
Dallas should be on the books for a couple of compensatory picks but those will likely be a couple of sixth-round picks.
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There’s the possibility of adding draft capital by trading back, possibly out of their first-round selection at No. 24. Running back will be on the Cowboys’ radar for at least one pick in this draft. Given who’s currently under contract, the Cowboys have to do something in free agency, just to have some surety at the position. The urgency of drafting a running back could be based on what they do (or don’t do) in free agency.
Taking a running back with an early-to-mid-round pick isn’t necessarily a bad thing, despite the devaluation of the position. If the right player is available, utilizing his services for the affordability of a rookie contract isn’t a bad idea. Using a mid-to-late-round pick on a back with specialized traits or scheme fit is a good idea, too.
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(Top photo of Tony Pollard: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
