Blogging The Boys
The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys.
With Rico Dowdle set to be a free agent, Dallas may need to pick a running back.
FRISCO, Texas – In recent years, the running back position has been an interesting study. The NFL has seen a trend of offenses throwing the ball more, bringing into question how much valuable should be placed on a running back.
Recent history shows that investing early round draft capital can make a huge difference in your offense. In the last three Pro Bowls, 18 of the 21 running backs selected have been first or second round picks. If you expand that filter to the last six seasons, 32 of the 40 Pro Bowl running backs were picked in the first two rounds.
In this Sunday’s conference championship games, three of the four starting running backs playing were drafted in the first three rounds of their respective classes. Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles, the second overall pick in 2018, just became the ninth player in NFL history to surpass 2,000 single-season rushing yards in his seventh year in the league.
All that goes to show that there’s a lot of value in taking a running back early in the draft as opposed to waiting until the later rounds hoping to strike gold. The Cowboys are one of the teams that found a quality ball carrier in Rico Dowdle from the undrafted ranks, but he’s an unrestricted free agent now and the Cowboys didn’t take a running back in the 2024 NFL draft, so there’s isn’t much depth in the room even if Dowdle does return.
And so, it appears likely that the Cowboys will draft a running back in 2025, and the record shows they’d benefit from drafting one in the first three rounds.
If Dowdle does depart, here’s where he may end up.
The Dallas Cowboys find themselves at a crossroads once again, tasked with not only finding the right head coach but also retooling their roster to build a Super Bowl contender, following yet another failed campaign under head coach Mike McCarthy.
However, amid the uncertainty and the letdowns of this past season, there were some bright spots, notably with running back Rico Dowdle, who impressed by rushing for over 1,000 yards.
As the Cowboys turn their attention to the future, former All-Pro running back and former NFL rushing leader Maurice Jones-Drew has made an intriguing prediction in his breakdown of team fits for six running backs set to hit free agency in 2025.
Jones-Drew anticipates that Dowdle will sign with the Cleveland Browns, a move that could reshape their backfield.
Jones-Drew explained his rationale: “He’d be a great option in Kevin Stefanski’s...
