Are we really better off at RB than last year?

[mardwin]

I think Dowdle was better than we’ll likely see this year, but i like this year everywhere else.

I’d like to see Deuce move to the practice squad.

Deuce is getting cut. Didn't impress much, and he never established himself with a limited running back room.

 

[gimmesix]

I think they would have drafted either of the Ohio St running backs, or certainly Hampton in the 2nd had they been available. With them off of the board, you either trade down or take BPA. Reaching would have meant passing on EZ. I believe the FO made the right call here.

They could've taken a back in the 3rd. Had that been the case, I would've preferred Skattebo, but none of the guys available measured up to Revel. Corner was a need and they made the right choice picking BPA.

Round 4 would've been the sweet spot had JJ not traded for Mingo, but he did, and we would've had to package picks to move up for a group of players that may or may not be better than Blue, who was our pick in the 5th. Sometimes the draft doesn't fall how you want it to and you have to improvise. I think they did well to accumulate talent that will contribute now and in the future.

Regarding free agency, who would you have rather brought in? Najee Harris was RB1. Aside from him, the list of potential acquisitions was limited at best. Sportrac had Williams as the 4th best back available. The only other options were to trade, which could still be on the table, or wait and see who is available during TC. I've been all over these guys about upgrading the RB for the last 3 offseasons. Last season, bringing in Barkley or Henry made way too much sense, but it didn't happen. This year, with the options available, I don't really see how they could've done a better job at approaching the position.

Frankly, if I was going to take a chance on a back who averaged under 4 yards per carry last year, I would do it with Nick Chubb. We know what he was before his injury and it was definitely better than Williams. (Technically, we could still get him, but I don't think we will.) But I agree that Henry made sense last year and we blew that one because we were too cheap. Frankly, it might be the same way with Chubb since we don't know what he's asking. Just because he's available doesn't mean he is looking to play for cheap.

As far as the draft goes, what happened is exactly why you can't use the draft to fill needs. If you do, then you have to reach. We didn't reach, so we were left with picking from the leftovers on Day 3. Doesn't mean we can't strike it reach, it's just that the odds against it are high.

 

[gimmesix]

Our OLine is better, so this RB committee already has an advantage.

So we are led to believe. But to believe that we have to also believe the lines were worse in Denver in Carolina.

While Williams rushed for 3.7 YPC on 139 attempts, Jaleel McLaughlin averaged 4.4 on 113 attempts and Audric Estime 4.1 on 76. In Carolina, Chuba Hubbard was the bellcow with 4.8 on 250 carries, more than a yard ahead of Sanders' 3.7 on 51.

It'd be a whole lot easier to buy into the line will make the difference if the other backs in Denver and Carolina had sucked behind their lines.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I see some hope being placed in the RB group that we've added this year, and that's understandable to some extent simply because we haven't seen this group either succeed or fail here. However, I do think there is reason to look at this group and wonder if we did any better this year than last year.

Miles Sanders vs. Ezekiel Elliott: Elliott had hit the wall that catches up to all players. He had averaged 3.8 YPC, then 3.5 YPC his last two years before going to New England and averaging 3.1. Elliott was in his seventh year when the wheels fell off. Sanders is going into his seventh year, but it appears that his wheels may have come off sooner. He's averaged 3.3 and 3.7 the last two years. Expecting him to recapture his juice is probably expecting too much. This one is likely a wash.

Rico Dowdle vs. Javonte Williams. Dowdle was our best back last year. He was coming off a season in which he averaged 4.1 YPC in a No. 2 role and averaged 4.6 when given a bigger role. That earned him a deal with Carolina, and Williams was brought in as his replacement. Williams has averaged 3.6 and 3.7 YPC in a time-sharing role in Denver the last two years. It's hard to say that he'll ever get back to the form of his first two years while Dowdle's stock is on the rise. Advantage Dowdle.

Jayden Blue vs. Royce Freeman, Before stashing Dalvin Cook on the practice squad and finding out he was just as cooked as Elliott, Dallas first brought in Freeman. Freeman was coming off a 4.1 season with the Rams in a backup role. He had a decent start to his career (averaging 4.0 per carry as a rookie) but it derailed pretty quickly. Blue brings an element to the run game that Dallas didn't have last year with his speed. The Cowboys are hoping that he can outplay his draft status (fifth round). Freeman was a third-round pick (71) while Blue was taken at 149, and we saw what became of Freeman. With this one, we just hope it turns out better.

Phil Mafah vs. Malik Davis. Davis was a UDFA that looked like he was going to at least carve out a backup role, but he faded quickly. Mafah was practically a UDFA, since he was taken in the seventh round. We have to hope he outplays his draft status as well.

Deuce Vaughn vs. Deuce Vaughn. There are times that Vaughn has shined and times when his lack of size has shown. He likely has to prove this year that he deserves a spot on the roster or he'll be gone. He had a grace period the last two years as a fifth-round pick and the son of a Cowboys staffer.

We're all hoping that the guys we've got will be better than the ones we lost or cut, but there are a lot of question marks here. We did not clearly upgrade and may have actually downgraded from Dowdle. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

I'd say we're better off by legitimate projection of what we have now versus what we had last year at this time.
But, we're worse off from current projection vs. *what we actually had* last year.
Turned out that Dowdle was significantly better than what we had a right to project at this time last season. Maybe someone else similarly breaks out. Not unreasonable. We have a few shots at it. And the addition of Blue gives us an added dimension we just didn't have last year. So if we do get another Dowdle, we'll be better off. But until we have a good reason to think one of our guys is *going to* match Dowdle from last year, I think we're worse off.