The Cowboys' overhauled RB room and a battle for the lead role

AtoZ Sports

Kyle Crabbs discusses the new faces at running back for he Dallas Cowboys in Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, Jaydon Blue, and Phil Mafah, and analyzes which players have the best chance at being the leader in the depth chart for the upcoming season

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00:00The Dallas Cowboys completely revamped their running back room this offseason,

00:04but which of the four new faces is best suited to be the man in 2025?

00:12I'm Kyle Krabs with A to Z Sports, and Dallas is going to have a number of new faces in key

00:17places this upcoming season. And despite Dak Prescott missing a healthy portion of the 2024

00:24season, Rico Dowdle posted a thousand yards running behind a Cowboys offensive line that

00:31had future Hall of Famer Zach Martin, Terrence Steele, young Cooper Beebe in play, Tyler Smith,

00:37who could be one of the league's top paid guards soon before long, and a lot of people

00:41movers on the offensive line. Now, Martin this offseason rode off into the sunset and retired.

00:48Cowboys promptly replaced him with Tyler Booker with their top draft choice,

00:52making Booker a top 15 pick. There's also four new names in the running back room,

00:58a couple of veterans in Miles Sanders and Javante Williams, and a couple of rookies in Phil

01:03Moffa from Clemson and Jadon Blue from Texas with four new names plus Deuce Vaughn. Deuce Vaughn

01:10probably feels like that Will Smith meme, looking around the living room, wondering where everybody

01:17has gone. But I don't think Deuce Vaughn, just because he's been here in Dallas, is well positioned

01:22to be the primary ball carrier. And in reality, you're probably going to see a pretty healthy

01:27split for carries amongst at least three of these names. But who's best positioned to be the primary

01:34player? I would say Jadon Blue because of his explosive playability running behind an offensive line

01:40that can create some pretty massive voids. That should fall in line similarly to the life that

01:46Blue lived this past season at the University of Texas. But ball security and pass protection are

01:53two elements for Blue that have been sore spots throughout his college career. He has seven

01:58fumbles in the last two seasons and is not a large framed player that would allow him to stick and pick

02:04off free runners coming from the second level or off the edge. That makes him a little bit more of a

02:09specialized back. And the first time a rookie fumbles the ball, you're probably going to find

02:13yourself in the doghouse. So I look to these two veteran players, and I think Miles Sanders,

02:18despite not being a picture of health the last two years, has the best chance. You saw what he looked

02:23like behind a good offensive line in Philadelphia before he left and signed a free agent contract

02:28to sign with the Panthers. Javante Williams has not been the same since a devastating knee injury

02:34cut down on some of his explosiveness, and he wasn't a player who was long on explosiveness

02:39in the first place. So I would expect you'll see Miles Sanders end up being the primary back,

02:45even though Jadon Blue, from an efficiency standpoint, is probably going to be Dallas's

02:50most potent carrier of the football. He just needs to do the little things to make sure he

02:55doesn't cut down on his own opportunities as a rookie. That will be a fascinating storyline to watch

03:02in addition to the return of Dak Prescott behind center and the infusion of George Pickens

03:07into the passing game. How it all plays out for Dallas, they have to hope, is that they'll be a

03:12more balanced team offensively in 2025 and a healthier team on defense. But for me, I'm looking

03:20at Miles Sanders to be the guy who tries to take the mantle from Rico Dowdle as the Cowboys' leading

03:26to Russia.

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