The Cowboys’ role in the league’s great running back debate

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For nearly a decade, the Cowboys have a played a prominent role in shaping how the NFL values running backs

The value of running backs in the modern NFL has been a hot topic for a while. After a big 2024 season for runners, the debate is raging on heading into the 2025 NFL Draft. With a loaded RB class to choose from and a big need at the position, the Dallas Cowboys could again be a major player in this conversation.

We say “again” because for a long time, Dallas has helped shape the perception of RB importance. The dominance of the NFL’s all-time rushing leader, Emmitt Smith, in the 90s is a key marker for the evolutionary path of the position. While some icons came after him like LaDainian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, and Frank Gore, Smith was one of the last backs to be a catalyst for championship success. After him, the league would belong to the Tom Bradys and Peyton Mannings.

In 2016, the Cowboys made what many considered a throwback move by drafting Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth-overall pick. Outside of using a third-rounder on DeMarco Murray in 2011, it was Dallas’ first major draft investment at RB since taking Felix Jones in the first round of 2008. Controversially choosing Zeke over CB Jalen Ramsey, the Cowboys’ decision has been continuously debated down to today. Indeed, Elliott’s rapid decline in just his mid-20s has become a cautionary tale for investing heavily in runners.

Going into last season, the RB position was at arguably an all-time depressed state. But Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry struck blows for their ball-carrying brothers with huge seasons, with Barkley’s leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl win. After signing modest free agent deals, given the general devaluation and being on what’s now considered the “older side” for the position, Barkley and Henry helped put some respect back on the collective name.

That brings us to next week’s draft. This 2025 RB class is keeping the conversation going, boasting one of the most highly-regarded prospects in years in Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and a load of talent behind him. It’s considered the deepest group in a long time, opening all sorts of arguments about draft strategy and when to strike.

Few teams, if any, need a starting running back out of this draft more than the Cowboys. While getting solid work last year out of journeyman Rico Dowdle, Dallas let him go in free agency and has only added a borderline bust in Javonte Williams and aging veteran Miles Sanders. At best, they’ll only replicate Dowdle’s production and even that looks iffy right now.

Despite this obvious need, many would loathe the idea of Dallas spending its first-round pick on Jeanty or any other running back. Even if a cornerback like Will Johnson or receiver like Tetairoa McMillan isn’t considered as special a prospect as Jeanty, Dallas has enough need at CB and WR that many would prefer those picks to strengthen the Cowboys’ ability to either throw the ball or defend against it. It’s an argument that you’d have never had 30 or even 20 years ago, but it’s where we are in today’s modern passing era.

Of course, Jeanty might not even make it to Dallas’ 12th-overall pick. It was only two years ago that Bijan Robinson went eighth-overall to Atlanta, and Jeanty is at least on that same level as a prospect. That would satisfy plenty of Cowboys followers, probably meaning one of Johnson, McMillan, or some other top option at another position falls to Dallas.

One proposed scenario causing even more vitriol is Dallas still going RB at the 12th pick if Jeanty’s gone, with North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton being mocked to the Cowboys by some mainstream draft gurus. This feels highly unlikely given Dallas’ other needs and what would be almost universally declared a major reach, but it would certainly raise the heat level on the RB debate to ghost pepper.

But let’s get back to the more plausible possibility with Jeanty. For those who point to Ezekiel Elliott as the warning example, there’s an admitted big difference between the fourth-overall pick and twelfth. You’re not passing on a generational CB talent like Jalen Ramsey to take Jeanty there. If he falls that far, he’s arguably the best overall prospect available at that spot by a clear margin. At that point, the argument is much more about the position than the player.

Still, you can’t get tunnel vision about one need. The free agent market is mostly dried up, so unless the Cowboys have some trades up their sleeves then they sorely need to come out of this draft with help at corner, a new starting WR, and more help on the defensive line, among other things. While the CB and DT depth in this class is also solid, nobody thinks that about receiver. If Dallas doesn’t get a new WR early, then you’d better hope Jalen Tolbert is ready for the big time.

Even some who would love to have Jeanty or Hampton have admitted that the Cowboys’ best strategy may be to focus on CB and WR in the early rounds and then target a RB later. Even if not the best of the class, prospects like Kalen Johnson, TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, Cam Skattebo, and others are all seen as upgrades from what Dallas had last year and legitimate starters. Some of them should be there in the third round. There are even RB prospects further back that are interesting.

However the Cowboys handle their business next week, their eternal spotlight and the extra eyes on this year’s RB class mean we should get another touchpoint in the ongoing conversation about the position’s value. The results will also matter, and we’ll have to wait a while to factor those in. But no matter what they do in this draft, Dallas’ decisions will be interpreted as a statement by one side or the other in their favor.