PFF ranks every team's 2024 RBs unit (1 - 32)

[Motorola]

I was going to say, if another team's RB group is worse than the Cowboys .... wow.

The Chargers are praying that JK Dobbins can come back from an achilles injury backed up by Gus Edwards & Kamani Vidal. Patriots have Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson, and JaMycal Hasty. So there are arguably worse in the nfl.

5-12 Chargers and 4-13 Patriots...the two worst AFC teams \ bottom 5 overall in the NFL this past season.
New GM and HC for both.
Their RB situation is just a reflection of where those two franchises were at as a whole.during 2023.
Expect changes.

 

[Whyjerry]

I remember Garrett convincing Jerry that they didn’t need top WRs because his scheme was so good guys would be wide open. I suspect the analytics department showed Jerry a regression chart on RB production, age, salary cap impact… and convinced the old fool that a committee of low skill guys was the optimal choice. I predict this will be the start of more head scratching behavior from the old drunk.

 

[jterrell]

Deuce is still playing RB.

He is not. At least not in the sense he would be a pure RB2 or even 3 as mentioned here.
He is playing a gadget role as a wing/slot back while Turpin has moved to more of a pure WR.
And yes, I get depth charts and other nonsense that are out there.
But Schottenheimer has the slot package in for Deuce already as of minicamp and they started that concept late last year.
He is also the backup returner to Turpin and they see him as a sort of successor there.

Cowboys likely break camp w Zeke, Freeman, Dowdle, DV listed at RB. --unless there is an injury, or a more proven vet comes free before final cuts.
But Vaughn will be a slot/wing back type in the games he is active.
He is very unlikely to be asked to block for the QB in the passing game or fill traditional RB roles as they saw he was physically unable.

If DV is unable to fill a slot role with juice he may very well end up on the PS.
But he likely can as he is built for that type of quick juke and go position.

 

[jterrell]

Next years draft is loaded at RB. So we will pick another TE.

Yea I got nothing there.
The TE pick was wild when it was made and it worse now.
And we have made about 5 TE picks that are head scratchers given other needs over the last 20 years.

This Mich kid may end up good but an R2 for a guy to develop into your blocking TE is kind of nuts.
This is why I have aged out of arguing best available player. And has come around to best available fit/asset.

 

[Chasing6]

Yea I got nothing there.
The TE pick was wild when it was made and it worse now.
And we have made about 5 TE picks that are head scratchers given other needs over the last 20 years.

This Mich kid may end up good but an R2 for a guy to develop into your blocking TE is kind of nuts.
This is why I have aged out of arguing best available player. And has come around to best available fit/asset.

On top of that we can find undrafted TE's with talent all day long.

 

[speedkilz88]

He is not. At least not in the sense he would be a pure RB2 or even 3 as mentioned here.
He is playing a gadget role as a wing/slot back while Turpin has moved to more of a pure WR.
And yes, I get depth charts and other nonsense that are out there.
But Schottenheimer has the slot package in for Deuce already as of minicamp and they started that concept late last year.
He is also the backup returner to Turpin and they see him as a sort of successor there.

Cowboys likely break camp w Zeke, Freeman, Dowdle, DV listed at RB. --unless there is an injury, or a more proven vet comes free before final cuts.
But Vaughn will be a slot/wing back type in the games he is active.
He is very unlikely to be asked to block for the QB in the passing game or fill traditional RB roles as they saw he was physically unable.

If DV is unable to fill a slot role with juice he may very well end up on the PS.
But he likely can as he is built for that type of quick juke and go position.

He's a rb that can split out to wr, did it at Kansas St. That is a normal function for receiving rbs. Marshall Faulk was really good at it.

 

[Chasing6]

He is not. At least not in the sense he would be a pure RB2 or even 3 as mentioned here.
He is playing a gadget role as a wing/slot back while Turpin has moved to more of a pure WR.
And yes, I get depth charts and other nonsense that are out there.
But Schottenheimer has the slot package in for Deuce already as of minicamp and they started that concept late last year.
He is also the backup returner to Turpin and they see him as a sort of successor there.

Cowboys likely break camp w Zeke, Freeman, Dowdle, DV listed at RB. --unless there is an injury, or a more proven vet comes free before final cuts.
But Vaughn will be a slot/wing back type in the games he is active.
He is very unlikely to be asked to block for the QB in the passing game or fill traditional RB roles as they saw he was physically unable.

If DV is unable to fill a slot role with juice he may very well end up on the PS.
But he likely can as he is built for that type of quick juke and go position.

A gadget role that will never see the field. They are asking him to do different things because he will not get on the field as a RB.

Another GM Jethro feel good story Circus pick.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

I think it's more important to rank where our o-line run blocking ranks.


If we can make some holes, instead of getting pushed back into the handfoff, the RBs will be more than average,

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Next years draft is loaded at RB. So we will pick another TE.

You hush! Jerry will hear you.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Could it be Tony and his one leg?

Instead of our All Pro /Pro Bowl OL?

I still can't understand how losing Tony downgrades us any.

Tony's half yard per carry more than zekes....serious downgrade!

 

[jterrell]

He's a rb that can split out to wr, did it at Kansas St. That is a normal function for receiving rbs. Marshall Faulk was really good at it.

Faulk was 5'10" and over 210 pounds.
He had an elite overall skillset and was a very high draft pick that was used as a traditional RB a fair amount.

Dallas has little to no plan to use DV as a traditional RB going forward. He isn't going to be early years TP as a speed back change of pace.
They want him to be back up to Turpin as the undersized juice guy.
They are carving out a role for him as a slot/wing back which isn't listed on any depth chart as such but very much exists in good offenses going back decades and includes at the top of the heap, Eric Metcalf.

Is this just a silly semantics argument? Yes, it kind of is.
Why does it matter? Because PFF used insanely bad grades they gave DV last year in their the tool to drag Dallas to 32nd on their list.
Really? Yes, really.

Last year PFF grades:
Royce: 74.2
Zeke: 67.6
Dowdle: 66.6
Saro: 60.0

DV: 46.4

So you cam do your own math but ignoring 74.2 but promoting 46.4 won't be good for the Dallas RB "score".

 

[jterrell]

A gadget role that will never see the field. They are asking him to do different things because he will not get on the field as a RB.

Another GM Jethro feel good story Circus pick.

I doubt Jerry has anything at all to do with this. After a single Johnnie Walker he prolly can't tell you Deuce's Dad's name. But some scouts and their boss on the personnel side, Will McClay? Of course.
They are human.

DV has a good skillset on offense, and I argued long before this ranking that a good offensive mind would get production from him.
DV dominated in college including just under a combined 300 yards rushing in his last 2 games versus UT and LSU with very good DLs.

But he cannot be asked to block people. He is not physically built for it any more than one of us on this forum.
Short shuttles, screens and quick draws off of motion though he could be really nasty on.

TE's in round 2 are worth complaining about. RB in round 6 is not IMO.

If you want to rely a bit less on passing every play and also avoid spending 10M for a RB1 getting a guy like DV in as a 40-50 yards a game combined pass/run weapon makes a lot of sense.
They have found similar utility with Turpin who won't be cheap forever.

 

[Chasing6]

I doubt Jerry has anything at all to do with this. After a single Johnnie Walker he prolly can't tell you Deuce's Dad's name. But some scouts and their boss on the personnel side, Will McClay? Of course.
They are human.

DV has a good skillset on offense, and I argued long before this ranking that a good offensive mind would get production from him.
DV dominated in college including just under a combined 300 yards rushing in his last 2 games versus UT and LSU with very good DLs.

But he cannot be asked to block people. He is not physically built for it any more than one of us on this forum.
Short shuttles, screens and quick draws off of motion though he could be really nasty on.

TE's in round 2 are worth complaining about. RB in round 6 is not IMO.

If you want to rely a bit less on passing every play and also avoid spending 10M for a RB1 getting a guy like DV in as a 40-50 yards a game combined pass/run weapon makes a lot of sense.
They have found similar utility with Turpin who won't be cheap forever.

I believe he can be effective with a great OLine that can create holes for him.

McCaffrey's first contact point is 3 yards past the line of scrimmage. Hard to be a bad RB when that happens. If first contact for Duece is 1 yard it will not work out well.

 

[Chasing6]

I doubt Jerry has anything at all to do with this. After a single Johnnie Walker he prolly can't tell you Deuce's Dad's name. But some scouts and their boss on the personnel side, Will McClay? Of course.
They are human.

DV has a good skillset on offense, and I argued long before this ranking that a good offensive mind would get production from him.
DV dominated in college including just under a combined 300 yards rushing in his last 2 games versus UT and LSU with very good DLs.

But he cannot be asked to block people. He is not physically built for it any more than one of us on this forum.
Short shuttles, screens and quick draws off of motion though he could be really nasty on.

TE's in round 2 are worth complaining about. RB in round 6 is not IMO.

If you want to rely a bit less on passing every play and also avoid spending 10M for a RB1 getting a guy like DV in as a 40-50 yards a game combined pass/run weapon makes a lot of sense.
They have found similar utility with Turpin who won't be cheap forever.

I believe he can be effective with a great OLine that can create holes for him.

McCaffrey's first contact point is 3 yards past the line of scrimmage. Hard to be a bad RB when that happens. If first contact for Duece is 1 yard it will not work out well.

 

[speedkilz88]

Faulk was 5'10" and over 210 pounds.
He had an elite overall skillset and was a very high draft pick that was used as a traditional RB a fair amount.

Dallas has little to no plan to use DV as a traditional RB going forward. He isn't going to be early years TP as a speed back change of pace.
They want him to be back up to Turpin as the undersized juice guy.
They are carving out a role for him as a slot/wing back which isn't listed on any depth chart as such but very much exists in good offenses going back decades and includes at the top of the heap, Eric Metcalf.

Is this just a silly semantics argument? Yes, it kind of is.
Why does it matter? Because PFF used insanely bad grades they gave DV last year in their the tool to drag Dallas to 32nd on their list.
Really? Yes, really.

Last year PFF grades:
Royce: 74.2
Zeke: 67.6
Dowdle: 66.6
Saro: 60.0

DV: 46.4

So you cam do your own math but ignoring 74.2 but promoting 46.4 won't be good for the Dallas RB "score".

Damn, it's like you are doing a parody. Comical. Based on nothing.

 

[Chasing6]

Damn, it's like you are doing a parody. Comical. Based on nothing.

Hunter will end up being our most effective RB this year.

Only question becomes how many weeks will it take before we figure it out.

 

[DuncanIso]

I think it was a combination. Martin's play was down a little, Steele was slow to come off injury and regain even his run-blocking form. Biadasz's play slipped in the new run scheme. Pollard struggled to come back from his leg injury. And the new inside running scheme wasn't a good fit for him.

Fans that hated Zeke were happy when Tony took over.

They didnt care that his speed was gone because of the freak injury.

Fans on here were saying how you didn't need to draft RBs. that any scrub would work.

Of course it didn't work out. Tony was terrible.

Now that Zeke is back, fans want to draft a RB.

#ZekeHate

 

[Chasing6]

Fans that hated Zeke were happy when Tony took over.

They didnt care that his speed was gone because of the freak injury.

Fans on here were saying how you didn't need to draft RBs. that any scrub would work.

Of course it didn't work out. Tony was terrible.

Now that Zeke is back, fans wanted to draft a RB.

#ZekeHate

No one hated Zeke. They hated the dumb contract Jerry signed.

 

[DuncanIso]

No one hated Zeke. They hated the dumb contract Jerry signed.

Jerry got his ROI with Zeke.

And no, there are many fans on here who hate Zeke.

 

[Chasing6]

Jerry got his ROI with Zeke.

And no, there are many fans on here who hate Zeke.

Zeke contract was horrendous.

GM Jethro can not read the tea leaves.