cowboys running backs now

Devonta Freeman and Alfred Morris fell off after offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan left for another city. The most recent example was a person who is eminently qualified to answer it: former Chargers and Broncos back Melvin Gordon, who won a Super Bowl last season without ever playing a snap for the Chiefs. From 1978 to 2010, 4.2 backs per season averaged 20 rushes per game over a full season. Visit ESPN to view the Dallas Cowboys team roster for the current season Quarterbacks have gone from capturing just over 10% of all runs inside the 3-yard line from 2006 to 2010 to just under 18% over the past five seasons. At Mondays 3 p.m. deadline, Barkley tweeted, It is what it is, signaling that there would be no multi-year deal for him, same as Pollard, same as Josh Jacobs in Las Vegas. James Conner hasn't completed a single full season and is playing for a tanking Cardinals team. Barnwell answers eight questions on how the NFL got here, NFL training camp: Top questions, roster projections for all 32 teams, Broncos' Uwazurike suspended for betting on NFL, Fins' Hill reaches settlement in marina incident, Raiders sign three-time Pro Bowl corner Peters, WR Addison driving 140 mph for dog 'emergency', Seattle extends top OLB Nwosu after career year, Packers: To take 'half a season' to tell about Love, Lions DB Gardner-Johnson carted off; MRI clean, Source: Bills RB Hines injured knee on Jet Ski, Why Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry and the Titans will benefit from DeAndre Hopkins signing. Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard is now the leader of the room, with the former Memphis star adjusting to his new role with aplomb. "But, right now, I think he's kind of distanced himself from those other guys a little bit because of his ability of being here and understanding what we're doing - he has two months under his belt versus six months. Popular veterans getting cut toward the tail end of their careers is nothing new, but the age at which these players have become free agents stands out. 5. Two were significant hits for their teams: Adrian Peterson won an MVP for the Vikings, while Chris Johnson posted a 2,000-yard season and made it to three Pro Bowls with the Titans. RGIII: Zeke going to Eagles would tarnish his Cowboys legacy. Kelly proceeded to win first-team All-Pro honors in each of the next three seasons and made it to seven consecutive Pro Bowls; he too became a Hall of Famer. See Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook (both 27) for more details. Take Eddie George, who made it to four straight Pro Bowls and served as the Titans' top back between 1996 and 2003. The numbers in the past might not be as large as you think. Marcus Spears explains why Saquon Barkley is crucial to the Giants' offense progressing next season. No team would dream of moving on from Myles Garrett, Deebo Samuel or Budda Baker, each of whom is 27. Following Pollard's productive 2021 campaign, the Dallas Cowboys have leaned into the idea of using him in a more prominent role and not just as a change-of-pace back to Ezekiel Elliott. At the same time, though, the NFL is a zero-sum proposition. When you factor in the outsize value in landing a wide receiver, edge rusher or cornerback in the draft relative to what they make on veteran deals, the value in taking a running back in the first round simply isn't there. Cowboys running back depth chart likely a battle between 3 players Draft strategy: Should you grab a TE early or play the waiting game? For every decade going back through the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, I identified the running backs who made the Pro Bowl at least once among their first three seasons. The players will have to take less than they want because of the leverage of the tag, or the organizations will have to ignore their financial position to try to placate a potential star player. Backs who have received the franchise tag (such as Josh Jacobs this year) or who are approaching the time when they might earn their first extension (such as Najee Harris) are publicly wondering about whether running backs are getting a fair shake. Which position are you paying less to get running backs a bigger piece of the pie? Cowboys Tony Pollard OUT; Can Rookie RB Malik Davis Help? RACEBOOK. DeMarco Murray wasn't consistent. A breakdown of all the running backs on the Dallas Cowboys roster. Sanders didn't turn into a bad player without Hurts, but teams didn't value him in free agency as a runner who would generate 5.0 yards per carry in a vacuum, even if his career yards per carry mark starts with a five. Let's use a simple (if imperfect) measure of what teams did in neutral situations on early downs. Rico Dowdle will have a chance to entrench himself as the No. Are the Dolphins the best fantasy option for Dalvin Cook? video. That would be a bad idea if offenses were suffering as a result, but rushing attacks have mostly grown more efficient by spreading rushing responsibilities around to multiple players, not less efficient. No team has had a key running back suffer a significant injury in minicamp or during offseason workouts to open up a starting job. Perhaps more notably for the purposes of running backs racking up gaudy numbers, quarterbacks also score more often than they did before. 10 best running backs of 2023: Ranking the best NFL RBs this season - MSN I certainly think the Rams regret giving Gurley an extension in 2018, as we'll discuss in a minute, but the tactic reared its head before Gurley's downswing and hasn't reflected how L.A. has used its backs since. Best team fits for 13 unsigned NFL veterans and trade candidates: We picked ideal landing spots, Zeke eyeing Eagles, Jets, Bengals, sources say, Which team should sign Zeke? It's tough to have an empirical example of what qualifies as a star back and his run as a starter, so I had to come up with my own definition. (1:00). Running Back Depth Starting to Surface. Now that you're all settled in, it's time you digest a cold, hard fact about Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard heading into the 2022 season: the team views it as a tag team title match and not either of the two setting up to do their best impression of Shawn Michaels in Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake's shop (Google it). Dallas Cowboys Source: RB Ezekiel Elliott Could Be 'Held Out for His The Cowboys are weighing all options with Tyron Smith now injured. And yet, of those nine backs, it feels as if many are closer to the end than the beginning. Rico Dowdle is the other returner who shined in 15 games as a rookie in 2020 before missing the entire 2021 season due to a hip injury. Now, with rookie first-rounder Anthony Richardson moving into the starting lineup for the Colts, nearly a quarter of the league will have a significant role for their quarterback as part of their rushing attack in 2023. Rookie Malik Davis has been a pleasant surprise in Oxnard and controlled the carries while Dowdle missed some time. The other issue is that backs haven't consistently been able to keep up those totals. Maybe you want to believe that some of the mistakes teams have made in the draft are just a product of foolish teams making subpar decisions. We still see seasons in which running backs rack up plenty of touchdowns in short yardage, but quarterbacks are stealing a higher percentage of the scoring glory than they did 15 years ago, let alone further back into the past. Peete, whose extensive coaching experience extends backward into the collegiate ranks and, at the NFL level, includes having recently spent time with the Los Angeles Rams before returning to the Cowboys in 2020. Gurley's knee hindered his explosiveness. Are star backs getting as much time? As receiver Michael Gallup works his way back from an ACL injury sustained in Week 17 last year, Pollard figures to be more of an element in the passing game. From 1951 to 2001 -- a 50-year window in which running backs were treated as essential players to a team's success -- quarterbacks joined the 100-100 club a total of four times. Ranking the best remaining NFL free agents: Who is still unsigned? (I excluded backs who earned their nod because of their special teams work, such as Tarik Cohen.) Its easy for Cowboys fans to view New York dismissively. First-half grades for all 30 MLB teams He posted a negative DVOA seven times across his nine seasons, suggesting the yards-per-carry mark wasn't too far off. Eric Moody makes the case for trading Christian McCaffrey if you have him on a fantasy football dynasty roster. The Dallas Cowboys running back room has a new sheriff . Given the extent of how the league has changed and the way the running back market has stagnated, though, it's going to take something creative to return backs to their prior position of glory as one of the most celebrated positions in football. The Cowboys wrap up the preseason on Friday with their first home game at AT&T Stadium. It's reasonable to wonder whether star high school and college players should even consider playing running back when other positions offer more professional upside and stability. Tony Pollard, the complementary back to Elliott, enters the final year of his rookie deal. Just because the Cowboys arrived late to the party for cutting running backs out of the loop for big paydays doesn't mean they aren't profiting from it now. View the profile of Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard on ESPN. A Barkley touchdown briefly put New York on top 13-6 in the third quarter in New York but Dallas quickly rallied and took control. The Cowboys don't have to make any decisions on the roster until next Tuesday, but it sounds like Jerry Jones already knows the plan for Michael Gallup. Those 27-year-olds who play other positions are in the primes of their careers. It's difficult to separate each back's ability to shoulder that workload versus their respective teams' desires to keep them fresh, but it's clear the league isn't using its top backs as it did before 2010. Others do a better job of integrating data into their approach. In the five-year window preceding that 2007 campaign, when a team was within 14 points of its opponent on first or second down, it threw the ball 50.4% of the time. It would be foolish to see that data and assume you should throw the ball 100% of the time, but to the extent there's a balance between the two concepts, teams should be throwing the ball more often than they run. "It's not going to be a pitch count [on Zeke]," said Peete. Dallas Cowboys 2022-23 Schedule and ATS Record | FanDuel Safety? When his son, Kyle, took over as the offensive coordinator in Houston in 2008, the Texans immediately got solid production out of rookie third-round pick Steve Slaton. Is the era of the star running back over? If we get to the window between 2010 and 2019 and focus on the backs whose careers as starters are definitely over, the average is scary: It's 1.8 seasons. By then, the Shanahan family had moved on to Washington and begun to coax three straight 1,000-yard seasons out of sixth-round pick Alfred Morris. Those backs can feature in the passing game -- Christian McCaffrey and Austin Ekeler garner plenty of catches at a high level -- but most aren't as effective or productive in the passing game as second or third wideouts, even if they or their representatives try to bill them as wideout-caliber playmakers in the passing attack. However, there is another preseason game on Friday and McGovern said he's expected to actually start at center. Running backs don't matter. You can make a case that teams should be willing to consider moving on from even the best backs at the end of their rookie deals. "But I think it's going to be a [fluid] count because they're going to share time. Get the latest news, live stats and game highlights. Aaron Jones took a pay cut earlier this summer to save his roster spot and avoid hitting this market. Who is No. In 2019 under different circumstances Elliott still had two years remaining on his rookie deal the Cowboys tacked on a six-year, $90 million addition that made Zeke (at least for a time) the highest-paid back in the league. Cowboys have highest odds to land Sean Payton, Cowboys roster rundown: All is well at quarterback. Barkley reportedly turned down a deal worth $14 million per season from New York, and while we don't know the structure of that contract, it would be a surprise if the team offered Barkley a deal without more guaranteed money than what he'll get with the franchise tag. With the NFL pushing all but the truly elite college backs out of the first round of the draft, college players are going to be facing scenarios in which they can stay in school and earn more money than they would by moving to the pros. Elliott has been a team leader and a key figure in the locker room since his arrival. Ask 10 people this question and you're likely to get 10 different answers. OXNARD, Calif. - Take my hand for a moment, and let's have a quick heart-to-heart about the Dallas Cowboys situation at running back.Now that you're all settled in, it's time you digest a cold, hard fact about Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard heading into the 2022 season: the team views it as a tag team title match and not either of the two setting up to do their best impression of Shawn . 3 behind Elliott and Pollard. It includes Dalvin Cook, Ezekiel Elliott and Kareem Hunt, each of whom are free agents. Leaving aside the strike-shortened seasons, between 1978 and 2010, each year delivered an average of 6.5 backs who toted the rock 300 or more times. The largest running back contract for a rookie was Reggie Bush's six-year, $62 million pact as the No. The Dallas Cowboys have a dynamic duo at running back but there are still questions that Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard must answer in 2022. To Thomas, the entire field was the hole. Tyron Smith's hamstring injury will be a "challenge" for the Cowboys for however long he's sidelined this season, but the team knows it must adjust in the meantime. First-round picks make far more money than players drafted in the later rounds, and their contracts typically are fully guaranteed. Players need talent to have leverage, but talent alone doesn't explain anything. Players received a slotted amount for where they landed, regardless of their position or pedigree. RB Coach: No. 3 Back Will Have Sizable Role In 2022 - Dallas Cowboys Elliott ended up making about $50 million the last four years, which was the reported guarantee at the time of the signing. Do you think the Cowboys will have a top tier running back corps in 2022? Callena Williams/Dallas Cowboys. CNN Former Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber III, who was found dead in his Texas apartment in June, died of heatstroke, a medical examiner's report says. Ezekiel Elliott Stats, News and Video - RB | NFL.com They do -- it's an extremely hard job. Protecting Patriots' Mac Jones: An early look at rookie C/G Jake Andrews, What 'Quarterback' tells us about Kirk Cousins' future with the Vikings, Madden NFL 24 ratings and rankings: Top 10 quarterbacks, led by Patrick Mahomes, Seattle Seahawks 2023 betting lines, odds, schedule ATS, Las Vegas Raiders 2023 betting lines, odds, schedule ATS. Here's eight players we'll be watching closely against the Seahawks. 1? The outsize importance of running backs in fantasy football is always going to make them a bigger piece of the puzzle than those players impact actual wins and losses. Running backs may not matter but Pollard matters to the Cowboys After Sunday's 20-17 victory in Los Angeles in which kicker Greg Zuerlein produced the longest walk-off field goal (56 yards) in franchise history, the Cowboys are now faced with a running back . There's no surprise at the top of the depth chart with Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard leading the way as a dual backfield full of potential. Tony Pollard Top Plays | 2022 Season. 2 pick in 2007. Dallas Cowboys Depth Chart | ESPN Making that position on the depth chart even more valuable for whoever emerges. Cowboys' Dalton Schultz on the rise as a fantasy tight end option, McCarthy on the hot seat? Barnwell answers eight questions on how the NFL got here. The economic reality for backs, at least at the pro level, isn't going anywhere. Do not duplicate in any form without permission of the Dallas Cowboys. The Best Quarterbacks In The NFL Right Now. Well, who in the NFL is an authority on running the ball? Take the defending champs. 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Runs have generated 4.4 yards per snap and an even 0.00 EPA per play. DFW got a slight cooldown. Much of this data simply didn't exist before. If it still stings Barkley on Sept. 10 or if, in fact, hes not even there that night a Cowboys team that lost its last three season openers will take a break wherever it can find one. Even with his declined performance and injuries, Elliott still led the team with 231 of the 462 carries by Cowboys running backs in 2022. That change puts more running backs who are starting their careers in vulnerable positions. Dallas draws two games against reigning division champion . Despite the New England Patriots history of not paying market-setting money to running backs, they are now favorites to sign Dalvin Cook. The Chiefs' lead back last season was seventh-round pick Isiah Pacheco, who was given an opportunity after 2020 first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire struggled to start the season before suffering an ankle injury. It's been tough to get a legitimate look at the running back position during the non-tackling sessions, making it difficult to gauge how the depth pieces are performing at the position. It will all begin and end with Moore finally making good on his promise to scheme both Elliott and Pollard onto the field at the same time, and often. I don't believe so, because we haven't seen a running back play at a truly high level on his rookie deal and then have his team let that player leave in free agency with no repercussions. The only back to rack up 350 touches consecutively since 2014 is Ezekiel Elliott, who did it in 2018 and 2019. Before 2010, players drafted toward the top of the first round entered the league and became some of the highest-paid players at their respective positions. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. This game might not count for most of the team, but it was the final chance for many young players to prove themselves. Emmitt Smith altered that line of thinking in 1993 by sitting out the Super Bowl champions first two games, having given quarterback Daniel Jones a four-year $160 million deal, Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook (both 27). For Elliott, who enters the last year of his contract being guaranteed, he will need to show the organization that he is much more valuable to the roster than just as a ball carrier. Jump to a topic: Featuring some of the greatest NFLrunning backsof all time, the best Cowboys RBs include Emmitt Smith, Ezekiel Elliott, Herschel Walker, Tony Dorsett, Julius Jones, and DeMarco Murray. Julius Jones (American football) - Wikipedia The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. It's not just a fan thing, though. When Holmes got injured, the Chiefs turned over the role to first-round pick Larry Johnson, who ran for more than 3,500 yards and scored 40 touchdowns over a two-year span before breaking down in 2007. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame . It is highly recommended that you use the latest versions of a supported browser in order to receive an optimal viewing experience. Could the Cowboys look at a running back in first round again. Visit ESPN to view the Dallas Cowboys team roster for the current season The reality is we have a soft spot for players who touch the football. Left tackle Tyron Smith is expected to have an MRI on Thursday after getting injured in Wednesday night's practice at Ford Center. Melvin Gordon couldn't protect the football. "I think he's got it back," said Peete. One simpler way to do it would be to use year-end awards: If a player is voted to the Pro Bowl in either of his first two campaigns, he would become eligible for an extension after his second season as opposed to his third. Jones is not a top 10 quarterback, but he plays the position that gets paid and Barkley plays the one where players are cast aside long before their 30th birthdays. Passing plays have generated 6.3 yards per snap and 0.05 expected points added per play over the past five seasons. Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs became the first running back duo to be selected in the top half of Round 1 since Fournette and Christian McCaffrey in 2017, a feat that happened far more often in the past. If you would've asked me two years ago, I would've probably said it's wide open. Take Jamaal Williams' 17-touchdown season. It isn't an indictment, but rather a statement of fact that the best years for Elliott are probably behind him. As recently as the final few years of the first decade of the 21st century, nearly half of top backs on teams were Round 1 picks. 1. the Cowboys tacked on a six-year, $90 million addition that made Zeke (at least for a time) the highest-paid back in the league. Alvin Kamara hasn't been the same since Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season. Clinton Portis, a second-round pick in 2002, played well enough to inspire a swap for Hall of Fame cornerback Champ Bailey, with the Broncos even getting an extra pick in the process. Now, Pollard is the longest-tenured running back on the team, and it'll be a new . 2023 Fantasy Football Draft Guide: Rankings, cheat sheets and analysis. Outside of maybe Cook's contract, did any of those deals age well? What's really interesting, though, is that the teams that rely on data most heavily aren't exactly tossing the ball all over the field. Some running backs looked for the hole. and has now been. Get the latest news, live stats and game highlights. We know too much about what works and what doesn't. . This would be enough for another article altogether -- and I'd argue the influence of analytics in football isn't anywhere near as significant as it has been made out to be in many discussions about the league -- but things are different than they were before 2010. 2023 Dallas Cowboys depth chart for all positions. If we take wide receiver as an example, though, we're not seeing the same sort of drop-off for players from that decade. DALLAS As the Dallas Cowboys get ready for training camp on July 27, here is a look at the roster broken down by position. In 2007, the first year ESPN has snap data available, the average age of a player was 27.8 years old. The Harvard product finished second on the team with 4.6 yards per carry and continued the momentum he built in Oxnard as a possible option moving forward as well. Calls for more fanciful solutions aren't realistic. His best work came in the joint practice against the Broncos with multiple runs and receptions for first down yardage. When that opening comes, these players will have an opportunity to land a more meaningful opportunity from teams that will be more desperate. While having a strong say in personnel with the 49ers, Shanahan has repeatedly prioritized backs who haven't worked out. Over that same time frame, just 12 running backs with 100 targets or more have topped that figure, and most of those backs are players such as Nyheim Hines or J.D. (They did win a title in 2021, with Gurley costing them $8.4 million in dead cap, but that lack of cap space pushed them to send more draft capital to the Broncos that year to acquire Von Miller and have Denver pay virtually all of Miller's salary.) I split the players into four groups: backs who were drafted in Round 1, players drafted in Rounds 2 through 4, players who were drafted from Round 5 onward, and players who weren't drafted at all. As a related aside, you can also expect Dowdle to "get a lot of reps" in each of the Cowboys three preseason games. Ezekiel Elliott is starting to show mileage put on the odometer. The only primary backs who have topped that 1.5-yard mark are McCaffrey, Ekeler, Alvin Kamara and Tony Pollard, who just moved into that role for the first time a year ago. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth) The crazy thing about the Cowboys' backfield is that the fourth overall pick, with an 18-million-dollar cap hit, and two rushing titles is not the . When I looked at the 16 backs who are already finished as starters from the 2010s, it's tough to find many who were playing well after leaving their initial teams. . I would argue extensions at those positions have been more successful than similar deals for running backs and that it's been harder to find starters at those spots in the later rounds than it has been at halfback. Watch wide receiver Brandin Cooks' top plays from the 2022 Season. Instead, it made things worse because of where they ranked on the league's financial spectrum. We don't have financial data stretching back into the distant past, but we'll consider how teams filled their lead-back role in the context of draft capital. "Both guys have a unique skill set, so we want to try to maximize that as much as we can.". Emmitt Smith altered that line of thinking in 1993 by sitting out the Super Bowl champions first two games losses to Washington and Buffalo but that was a different world in which real free agency had not truly burst onto the scene. Quarterbacks routinely rank among the league leaders in expected points added on the ground because their runs average more yards per carry and convert third downs with scrambles. Here are the ones to keep a close eye on as the offseason rolls along. Right now, there are four backs who are qualified for steady NFL work available in free agency. Are big new deals coming for RBs Barkley and Jacobs? 8-second Rule In Basketball, Articles C