When Tony Pollard left the Dallas Cowboys for the Tennessee Titans, I had a feeling this would be the outcome at some point.
Dallas signed Royce Freeman on Tuesday, leaving them with a running back room of Freeman, Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis, and Hunter Luepke.
Cowboys signed former Rams and Broncos RB Royce Freeman today to a one-year contract, a person familiar with the move said. This does not alter the expectation Dallas will select a running back in next week's draft.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) April 17, 2024
Yikes
Yikes is right; Freeman was drafted by the Broncos in 2018 and has played for four teams in his career. He played for the Rams last season and ran for 319 yards on 4.1 yards per carry and 2 TDs. That was his best season since 2019.
Freeman has never been a featured back.
His best seasons came in his rookie and sophomore seasons with the Broncos in 2018 and 2019.
His rookie season is the only time he has run for over 500 yards, during which he also scored five rushing touchdowns.
After those two seasons, Freeman then played for the Texans and Panthers but didn’t do much. He was more on the special teams unit than running the rock.
Now, he walks into the Cowboy’s running back room with the most experience. It’s so sad.
Yes, they will likely draft a running back, but this will have to be a committee-type deal. Ride the hot hand that day and live with it.
In the entire history of the NFL Draft (1936-2023), the LATEST that we've seen the first RB drafted was Bishop Sankey (No. 54 in 2014).
I'm not sure it's realistic to think that Jonathon Brooks will be available to the #Cowboys at No. 56.
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) April 18, 2024
Add Via The Draft?
Jonathan Brooks, the hometown kid from Texas, is a name everyone is high on. But if the Cowboys don’t draft him with their first-round pick, I doubt he is going to make it to them at pick no. 56.
In the entire history of the NFL Draft (1936-2023), the LATEST that we’ve seen the first RB drafted was Bishop Sankey (No. 54 in 2014).
He will likely be the first running back taken off the board, and someone in a better spot who can take a chance on him early will grab him.
Guys like Florida State’s Trey Benson could be another option for the team.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1718322668158792140
He was a 30-visit as well, does not have injury concerns, and is a consensus top-2 running back in the draft.
Benson is still my favorite running back in the draft.
Last year, he had 154 rushes for 990 yards, a 6.4 yards per carry average, and nine touchdowns.
He caught 13 balls for 144 yards with an 11.1 average yards per reception. He earned Second Team All-ACC.
Whether it is Brooks, Benson, or another one of the premier running back prospects, the Cowboys’ biggest task is making sure they get the right guy.
Regardless of who they draft, this will not be a fun year watching this backfield.
If I had to guess, Dowdle would be the projected starter, but that could change from now to when September rolls around.
If it took Pollard until the final game of the season to rush for over 1,000 yards behind an offensive line that was better than what they are going to have this year, wow.
Nothing says all-in like Royce Freeman https://t.co/UFa1EJIYNx
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) April 17, 2024
All the backs combined might rush for over 1,000, but I expect most of them to sit around 500-600 yards and that is being nice.
Long way to go before we can make that call, but from the looks of it right now, in maybe the final year of Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott, they are sure going to need to put things on their shoulders if they wanna hang around.
Jerry really said they would be going “all-in,” and they can’t even do that by signing their two best players to extensions to clear up cap space to make the moves needed.
This team might be in trouble by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, and until something changes my mind about that, I have no reason to think they can win enough games to make the playoffs in the NFC.
