{"id":42303,"date":"2025-04-19T07:53:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T07:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=42303"},"modified":"2025-04-19T07:53:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T07:53:14","slug":"cowboys-predicted-to-draft-star-running-back-but-its-not-ashton-jeanty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=42303","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys predicted to draft star running back, but it&#8217;s not Ashton Jeanty"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex w-full max-w-[980px] flex-col px-4 pt-4 font-secondary lg:px-0\">\n<p class=\"dek prose mb-2.5 italic text-secondary\">2025 NFL Draft predictions have the Cowboys drafting a running back who isn&#8217;t Ashton Jeanty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full max-w-[980px] flex-row gap-5\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col lg:max-w-[660px]\">\n<div class=\"px-4 pb-5 lg:px-0\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-between gap-4  font-secondary md:items-center \">\n<div class=\"flex-row flex-wrap items-center text-primary\">\n<div class=\"author-link mr-2.5 flex items-center text-sm md:text-nowrap \">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full max-w-full object-contain object-center px-4 lg:px-0\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Dallas-Cowboys-owner-and-general-manager-Jerry-Jones.jpg?w=700\" sizes=\" (max-width: 768px) 600px,  (min-width: 769px) 700px\" srcset=\"\n              https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Dallas-Cowboys-owner-and-general-manager-Jerry-Jones.jpg?w=700 600w,\n              https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Dallas-Cowboys-owner-and-general-manager-Jerry-Jones.jpg?w=700 900w\n            \" alt=\"Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones speaks to the media at a press conference at the Star.\" \/><\/figure>\n<article class=\"article-body prose max-w-none pb-7 pt-5 prose-figure:max-w-full prose-ol:pl-10 prose-img:max-w-full prose-video:max-w-full md:prose-ol:pl-6 [&amp;_iframe]:m-auto [&amp;_iframe]:block [&amp;_iframe]:max-w-full\">With the\u00a0NFL Draft\u00a0on the horizon, it&#8217;s not entirely clear\u00a0what the Dallas Cowboys will do. However, many speculate that the team will select a running back at some point with all eyes on former Boise State star Ahston Jeanty. However, the latest draft prediction for Dallas has the team selecting a different running back altogether.<\/p>\n<p>Chad Reuter of NFL.com has the Cowboys skipping running back in the first round and choosing former Ohio State star\u00a0TreVeyon Henderson in round two. Reuter has the Cowboys taking Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden in the first round while Jeanty goes to the New England Patriots at No. 4 overall.<\/p>\n<p>Henderson played four seasons for the Buckeyes, where he was rather productive throughout most of his collegiate career. In the 2024 season, the 22-year-old running back helped Ohio State win the national championship. He ended the campaign with 1,016 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns off 144 attempts. Henderson led the Big Ten Conference in rushing yards per attempt with 7.1 yards per carry.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s production the Cowboys could certainly use in the backfield. Dallas finished last season as the sixth-worst rushing team in the league, finishing with just 1,705 rushing yards. The backfield was led by Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott.<\/p>\n<div class=\"not-prose flex w-full flex-col gap-2 divide-y divide-solid divide-[#58585820] bg-[#FAFAFA] px-4 pt-5\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col\">\n<article class=\"article-body prose max-w-none pb-7 pt-5 prose-figure:max-w-full prose-ol:pl-10 prose-img:max-w-full prose-video:max-w-full md:prose-ol:pl-6 [&amp;_iframe]:m-auto [&amp;_iframe]:block [&amp;_iframe]:max-w-full\">Ahead of the NFL Draft, the Cowboys\u00a0addressed the running back room in free agency. Team owner and general manager Jerry Jones brought in former Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams and former Carolina Panthers running back Miles Sanders. Both players signed one-year deals.<\/p>\n<p>It was a bit of a disappointing season for the Cowboys, as the team finished with a 7-10 record. Quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury that forced him to miss nine games. Additionally, the team just wasn&#8217;t as competitive as they have been in previous years.<\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys certainly hope to get back to playoff contention in 2025. Finding a legitimate starting running back would go a long way in helping the offense improve.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2025 NFL Draft predictions have the Cowboys drafting a running back who isn&#8217;t Ashton Jeanty. With the\u00a0NFL Draft\u00a0on the horizon, it&#8217;s not entirely clear\u00a0what the Dallas Cowboys&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cowboys predicted to draft star running back, but it&#039;s not Ashton Jeanty - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=42303\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cowboys predicted to draft star running back, but it&#039;s not Ashton Jeanty - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2025 NFL Draft predictions have the Cowboys drafting a running back who isn&#8217;t Ashton Jeanty. 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