{"id":53428,"date":"2025-06-04T08:24:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T08:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=53428"},"modified":"2025-06-04T08:24:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T08:24:16","slug":"cowboys-projected-to-land-difference-maker-compared-to-22-million-all-pro-rb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=53428","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys Projected to Land \u2018Difference Maker\u2019 Compared to $22 Million All-Pro RB"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2176245327-e1748957812814.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2176245327-e1748957812814.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2176245327-e1748957812814.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2176245327-e1748957812814.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Jeremiyah Love\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"705\" data-dom-ready-time=\"872\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>For fans tuning into the\u00a0College Football Playoff\u00a0following the 2024 season, they got to see something new, with a 12-team field for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t take Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love long to make a first impression, introducing himself to a national audience with a 98-yard touchdown run in the opening game against Indiana \u2014 the first score in the very first game of the expanded playoff.<\/p>\n<p>Love is now projected as a first round pick following the 2025 season and the\u00a0NFL Mock Draft Database\u00a0predicting he\u2019ll be the player to fix the backfield woes for the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n<p>Using a consensus of all of the mock drafts available, Love is projected to the Cowboys with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.<\/p>\n<p>NFL Draft Buzz\u00a0compared Love, 6-foot and 210 pounds, to\u00a0Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl running back\u00a0Bijan Robinson, who is coming off his first Pro Bowl selection in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Robinson was the No. 8 overall pick in the\u00a02023 NFL draft\u00a0and signed a\u00a04-year, $21.9 million rookie contract.<\/p>\n<p>From NFL Draft Buzz: \u201c(Love) is not built to be a 25-touch bruiser in a downhill scheme, but that\u2019s not where the league is headed anyway. With a season of growth remaining at Notre Dame, Love has the upward trajectory to emerge as a true difference-maker who changes how defenses approach entire offensive schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If there\u2019s one thing the Cowboys have been\u00a0missing at running back, it\u2019s a difference maker.<\/p>\n<h2>Love on Track to Leave College After 3 Seasons<\/h2>\n<p>Love\u2019s ascension to college football\u2019s elite has him on track to leave Notre Dame after 3 seasons. In 2024, he had over 1,400 yards of total offense and 19 total touchdowns, including 1,125 rushing yards in 16 games at an average of 6.9 yards per carry.<\/p>\n<p>He was also one of the stars on a team that advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, where the Irish lost to Ohio State.<\/p>\n<p>Headed into 2025, Love is also one of college football\u2019s highest paid running backs \u2014 he has an\u00a0NIL valuation of $1.6 million, according to On3.\u00a0He\u2019s also about to be one of the most recognizable players in college football, as he\u2019s one of the players featured on the cover of\u00a0EA Sports College Football 26\u00a0video game.<\/p>\n<h2>Cowboys Don\u2019t Have Real Answer at RB in 2025<\/h2>\n<p>The Cowboys didn\u2019t really lift a finger to stop last season\u2019s leading rusher,\u00a0Rico Dowdle, from leaving in free agency on a 1-year, $2.75 million contract with the\u00a0Carolina Panthers. Dallas also didn\u2019t exactly set the world on fire by signing\u00a0Javonte Williams,\u00a0the leading rusher for the\u00a0Denver Broncos\u00a0in 2024, to a 1-year, $3 million contract.<\/p>\n<p>Williams rushed for just 513 yards and 4 touchdowns last season while averaging a paltry 3.7 yards per carry.<\/p>\n<p>There might be help on the way in the form of 2025\u00a0fifth round pick (No. 149 overall) Jaydon Blue, who\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Mike Clay\u00a0called the\u00a0\u201cWild Card\u201d in the Dallas offense.<\/p>\n<div id=\"3773f5f98d8ccd4f43deab90e2b37050\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container\">\n<article class=\"tweet-container_article\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container_header \">\n<p>Blue scored 18 touchdowns in 3 seasons at Texas \u2014 11 rushing and 7 receiving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlue will begin his career behind newly acquired veterans Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, but neither have played well in recent seasons, so this depth chart is wide open,\u201d Clay wrote on May 16. \u201cThe lead back role in Dallas is there for the taking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. For fans tuning into the\u00a0College Football Playoff\u00a0following the 2024 season, they got to see something new, with a 12-team field&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53428","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 Projected to Land \u2018Difference Maker\u2019 Compared to $22 Million All-Pro RB - 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=53428\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cowboys Projected to Land \u2018Difference Maker\u2019 Compared to $22 Million All-Pro RB - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. 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