The Dallas Cowboys will enter the 2024 season with high expectations and a ton of pressure, and one specific question remains for America’s Team.
Tony Pollard was a significant loss during the offseason, who signed a contract with the Tennessee Titans and left a large hole in the Cowboys’ running back room.
The running back position is one of the biggest question marks in the entire league, as there has been no clear indication about which players will separate themselves from their peers.
Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle, and Dalvin Cook will all be vying for a chance to serve as the Cowboys’ primary running back, and all three players have reasons to believe they could assume the role.
Elliott remains the most likely candidate to receive the majority of the carries for this Cowboys team. He has a long rapport with the franchise after spending the first seven years of his career in Dallas.
The Ohio State alumnus spent the 2023 season as a member of the New England Patriots, where he served as the main backup but flashed impressive moments after Rhamondre Stevenson missed time because of an injury.
These impressive moments included a Week 15 game against the New York Jets in which he rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries.
Despite accumulating 642 rushing yards, Elliott also had a career-low of 3.5 yards per carry due to a loss of explosiveness and a bad offensive line.
Dowdle, who will be entering his fifth year with the franchise, is the second-most likely player to lead the Cowboys in rushing attempts.
Dowdle has spent every year of his career serving as the backup in some manner, spending his first few seasons behind Elliott and Pollard before moving into a full-time second backup role in 2023.
Last season was Dowdle’s best year. He carried the ball 89 times and gained 361 yards, an average of 4.1 yards per carry.
Although Dowdle is currently listed as the second running back on the Cowboys’ depth chart, comments made by Head Coach Mike McCarthy provide hope that he will see a significant uptick in the number of carries he has this season.
McCarthy explained that Dowdle will play fewer special teams snaps this year due to the increased workload he is expected to have in the running game.
“He’s a complete running back, plays all three downs. I think his pass protection from his rookie year to now has become one of his best assets,” he added, per The Coachspeak Index.
Finally, after signing with the franchise on Wednesday, Cook will be the third-most likely player on the Cowboys to lead the team in rushing.
Cook has had an incredibly impressive career, rushing for a total of 6,207 yards and 47 touchdowns, and was one of the most consistent running backs for a four-year period between 2019 and 2022.
However, Cook struggled during the 2023 season after being released by the Minnesota Vikings and signed by the New York Jets. He carried the ball just 67 times for 214 yards at an average of 3.2 yards per carry.
Cook and Elliott have similar concerns about their abilities to contribute meaningfully to the Cowboys. Both players are at the tail end of their careers and may not possess the athleticism required to be consistent first options.
While Elliott and Cook possess far less athleticism than Dowdle and will struggle to create separation at times, each of them brings more experience, which could make it an intriguing position competition throughout the year.
The fourth running back currently listed on the Cowboys’ depth chart is second-year player Deuce Vaughn, though his size — just 5-foot-6 inches and 176 pounds — makes him more likely to get snaps on special teams.
Although all three of these players will look to be the Cowboys’ number one running back, the coaching staff may attempt to rush by committee.
Pollard made 252 rushing attempts and ran for 1,005 yards during the 2023 season, which the coaching staff could recreate with the players currently on the roster.
One possible scenario for the Cowboys is that the team utilizes Dowdle during the early downs of the game while utilizing Elliott and Cook in the red zone and near the goal line due to their frames and size.
While it is still unknown who will become the lead running back in Dallas, the team has already begun preparations for the beginning of the 2024 regular season.
The Cowboys will begin the season with an away game against the Cleveland Browns on September 18 at 3:25 p.m., followed by two straight weeks with home games against the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens.