Deuce Vaughn Might've Played His LAST Snap With The Cowboys...

AtoZ Sports

Mauricio Rodriguez talks about Dallas Cowboys RB Deuce Vaughn and how the one time fan favorite, is now battling for a roster spot just a few short years later.

Transcript

00:00So this Dallas Cowboys player has gone from instant fan favorite to bench player to inevitable

00:07roster cut. Let's talk about it. Hey, what's up everyone? It's Mauricio Rodriguez here at

00:15ADZ Sports Dallas. Training camp is right in the horizon and I'm ready to talk about some of the

00:21players that I want to follow very closely. And one of them is at a position that is absolutely

00:28going to be filled with training camp battles. You know it. I know it. Running back is going to be

00:35a show. You're going to have players fighting for the starting spot. You're going to have players

00:40fighting for backup roles and for the last roster spot on the team. And since we've talked plenty

00:45about the new faces like Miles Sanders, Javante Williams, and fifth round rookie Jaden Blue,

00:51now I want to talk about someone who was already on the team and that might be getting the short

00:56end of the stick very soon. And that is Deuce Vaughn. That's right. I'm talking about Deuce Vaughn.

01:03He obviously had an amazing draft story that put him in everyone's radars just because the Cowboys

01:08scout Chris Vaughn is his father. But he parlayed that with an amazing rookie preseason and our

01:14expectations were high. We thought Deuce Vaughn was going to carve out a role with the Cowboys.

01:20And now I'm asking myself, is there any way, any way that Deuce Vaughn saves his job in 2025?

01:28And this is what I mean. Obviously, you've got your running back room that is going to be made up of,

01:33I would guess, four players when the season starts. Now that includes a fullback. So I would say

01:40Hunter Lipke is in a fullback. I would assume Javante Williams is not only going to get a roster

01:46spot, but he's going to start for the Cowboys. Then I would say Jadon Blue is the other roster

01:52lock because of the upside that he brings to the table as a rookie. And then there's that third

01:57running back spot that I would assume is going to go to either Miles Sanders, the veteran free agent,

02:03the Cowboys signed, or Phil Mafa, the seven round rookie out of Clemson. That's the one spot that I

02:10would assume Deuce Vaughn has a shot in stealing away with a very strong training camp. The question

02:16is if he will get it at all. Deuce Vaughn's numbers so far, not very impressive. He had 17 rushing

02:22attempts last year, averaging 4.1 yards per carry. He had 23 attempts as a rookie and he averaged 1.7

02:30yards per attempt. Not even in special teams. Was he a factor in the seven games that he played

02:35for the Cowboys in 2024? He really only crossed the 20% snap count mark in one of those seven games.

02:42But there are two ways that I could see him potentially earning a roster spot. I don't

02:47think it's going to happen on the offensive side of things. It might. You never know. But I do think

02:52several players on that room have the advantage over him. Williams and Sanders, they have the experience.

02:58Jadon Blue has the upside and a cheaper deal as well. And then Phil Mafa has something the

03:05other backs don't have, which is this power back profile. I don't know if he'll be on the roster,

03:10but that's something that Deuce Vaughn really doesn't have. However, on special teams, he could

03:15emerge as a potential returner, I guess, alongside Kavante Turpin with the revamped kickoff. You want

03:22two players feeling that football all the time. It might be Deuce's best shot. And number two is he does

03:28know very well the new offensive line coach, and that is Connor Riley, who is coming in from Kansas

03:33State. And he was the offensive coordinator as well over with the Wildcats. I would assume that's not

03:39enough to move the needle for Deuce Vaughn. But maybe if they want to do and install a package where

03:45Connor Riley is like, Deuce Vaughn is the guy for this, and he fights for him in the meeting rooms, perhaps

03:50it could happen. Again, I am not betting on it. I think Deuce Vaughn, he might have played his last down as a

03:57Dallas Cowboy. And I really wanted him to succeed. But just looking at this objectively, I don't know that he's on the

04:0253-man roster when it's all said and done.

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