The running back position has more or less gone out of fashion in the modern NFL. The era of — as legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes described it — “three yards and a cloud of dust” are long gone by.
Nonetheless, the Dallas Cowboys have a long tradition of outstanding running backs, a lineage topped by the NFL’s all-time rushing yardage leader Emmit Smith who accumulated 18,355 yards on the ground in his 17-year career. All but 1,381 of those yards came with the Cowboys from 1990 to 2002.
But the Cowboys have seen plenty of other talented ball-carriers pass through Dallas, from Tony Dorsett — who rushed for 1,007 yards and led the Cowboys to their second Super Bowl victory in his rookie year of 1977 — to Herschel Walker, DeMarco Murray and, most recently, Ezekiel Elliot.
Going into 2025, as they look to return to the playoffs after failing to do so for the first time in four seasons last year, the Dallas running back room does not have that single, standout runner who can change a game, a type of player becoming increasingly rare in today’s game. They got a 1,079 yard season last year out of Rico Dowdle, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020, but lost him in free agency to the Carolina Panthers.
Cowboys Face Pressure to Add a Running Back
Going into a hoped-for playoff season with 2023 second-round pick Deuce Vaughan, along with Denver Broncos castoff Javonte Williams, signed on a one-year, $3 million contract, as their backfield seems like a very un-Cowboys-like problem to have.
A new trade prediction from Bleacher Report writer Kristopher Knox would go a long way toward solving the Cowboys’ running back deficiency. According to Knox, as this week’s NFL draft gets underway, the Cowboys will send their third-round pick, the 76th draft pick overall, to the New York Jets.
In return, Dallas would receive the Jets’ 2022 second-round pick Breece Hall, out of Iowa State. This Day Two trade would depend on what the Jets are able to accomplish on Day One. With the seventh pick in the first round, the Jets are rumored to be eyeing Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.
If the Jets can haul in Heisman Trophy voting runner-up Jeanty with that No. 7 pick, Hall becomes expendable. The 23-year-old broke off the single longest run of the 2023 NFL season, with an 83-yarder against the Buffalo Bills in Week One, gaining 8.3 percent of his 994 yards for the season on that single play.
Deep RB Draft Makes Hall-to-Cowboys Possible
That run also came on Hall’s second touch after returning from knee surgery that cut off his rookie season with just seven games player.
“The Cowboys might be a team interested in acquiring the veteran,” Knows wrote. “They’re looking to quickly rebound after missing the playoffs in 2024, and Hall would instantly become the headliner of a committee.”
According to the Bleacher Report writer, the Jets may look to cut ties with Hall even if they miss on Jeanty in the first round. The Bleacher Report “scouting department” ranks 19 running backs among the top 150 draft prospects, making the 2025 class one of the deepest in recent memory for ball carriers. The Jets could find a high quality running back in the second round, which would also serve to make trading Hall to the Cowboys possible.
