Dallas was a bad rushing team last year. In response, they released Ezekiel Elliot (again) before the season finale, and let last year’s leading rusher, Rico Dowdle, walk in free agency. In their place is a mix of castoffs, rookies, and holdovers. There’s no clear lead back, no proven contributors, and no real reason to believe this is anything more than a patchwork committee—unless you’re really into hope-based depth charts.
It’s the weakest position group on the roster, and the most unproven.
Let’s dig in.
Why Running Back Ranks Last In The Cowboys Position Group Rankings
The Veteran Options
If you squint hard enough, you can talk yourself into the Cowboys having backfield options. But the reality is that the running back position has been an afterthought for over five years. Dallas hasn’t had a player run for double-digit touchdowns since 2021, and hasn’t had a player rush for over 1,100 yards since 2019. This year’s group enters 2025 as the most unproven on the roster, and that’s saying something.
Javonte Williams is probably the closest thing the Cowboys have to a prototypical RB1. He had a strong start to his career as a rookie in Denver, rushing for just over 900 yards and averaging 4.4 yards per carry in 2021. But a torn ACL the following year derailed his momentum, and he hasn’t been the same since. He’s still just 25 years old, and this could be the best he’s felt in years. But he has never been known for his speed or agility, so it’s fair to wonder what the best version of him will look like.
Miles Sanders is the most accomplished back in the room right now. He put together a really nice season for Philadelphia back in 2022, rushing for over 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns. But the last two years in Carolina have been really disappointing. He hasn’t cracked 450 yards in either of the last two seasons, and at 28 years old, it’s fair to wonder how much tread he’s got left on the tires. He’s a change-of-pace back at this stage in his career, not someone you build the run game around.
The Rookies
Behind the veteran signees are a pair of rookies: Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah. Both have generated some buzz during rookie minicamp and OTAs, but what is reasonable to expect from a fifth and seventh-rounder, respectively?
Blue is the kind of player that fans get really excited about: Sub-4.3 speed, explosive in space, and a home run threat. But it’s unlikely he will recreate the kind of success he had in college at the NFL level. Peddling a fifth-round rookie as your lead back is a tough sell, even if you want to convince yourself it could be true. The reality is Blue isn’t built to be a three-down back, and expecting him to carry the ball 20+ times a game isn’t realistic.
Mafah, the seventh-rounder out of Clemson, runs with power and will be effective as a short-yardage back. If there were a dark horse to get the majority of the carries, it would probably be Mafah, but he likely isn’t dynamic enough to be your lead. He’s a big, physical back who could take the pounding of early down carries, but he just doesn’t give you enough upside to justify taking carries away from more explosive options.
The Holdovers
Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke are the only returning options from last year, but neither one is a featured back.
Vaughn is a dynamic runner in theory, but he will struggle to even make the 53-man roster. Blue has an identical skill set, but he’s a better player with more size and juice.
Luepke is intriguing, but he’s more of a fullback/hybrid player than a running back. He’s not likely to be competing for carries behind any of the players we’ve already mentioned.
There’s no clear lead back, and no one that defenses are losing sleep over. No player on the roster has proven they can carry the load for a full season in recent memory, and fans have every reason to be skeptical that the running game will be better in 2025.
Why Running Back Lands At The Bottom
When measured against our criteria—talent/production, depth, positional value—the Cowboys’ running back group simply doesn’t check any boxes.
There’s no true lead back, no recent track record of high-level performance, and no clear path forward for how this group will produce consistently over a 17-game season. Williams and Sanders are this team’s “proven” veterans, but neither feels like a long-term solution. The rookies offer some intrigue, but they’re unproven. And the holdovers aren’t likely to make an impact.
This the weakest position group on the Cowboys’ roster, maybe in the entire NFL. There’s time for a leader to emerge, and training camp will offer a lot of clarity. But as things stand, this is a patchwork unit that isn’t inspiring a whole lot of confidence.
That’s why running back lands at the bottom of our Cowboys position group rankings list.
Main Photo Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
The post Dallas Cowboys Position Group Rankings: Running Backs appeared first on Last Word on Pro Football.