Dallas Cowboys Mock Draft: All Round Post Free Agency Edition (Adithya 2.0)
Trayveon Williams, RB, Texas A&M
Oh look another Texas A&M product in the 4th round… I’m not biased when I say this but Williams has a good chance to land on the Cowboys. I mentioned in my sleeper running back article right here that Trayveon would be a fantastic fit because of what he provides as a running back. In addition to being an interviewee for the Cowboys, the stars seem to be aligning.
Contrary to my belief, it seems the Cowboys want another bell cow type running back behind Zeke. There are plenty in this draft but they are all much slower than Zeke. This is where Trayveon is a bit different.
As mentioned in the previous article, I said Trayveon didn’t possess a burst like some of the other running backs but he’s very elusive in the open field. He also ran a 4.51 second 40 yard dash so comparatively he isn’t much slower than Zeke. As a receiver he’s been productive, but more importantly, he caught most of his passes out of the backfield.
I highlight this because the Cowboys had one of the highest catch rates out of the backfield compared to any team in the league. In this tweet from Bob Sturm, he points out how teams use their running backs in formations. Zeke was 42nd in the league in terms of catches when lined up at the line of scrimmage.
Pursuant to the RB as part of the passing game as a "pseudo-WR", here are receiving attempts/catches, 2016-2018, at least 5 yards downfield. And this how modern offenses differ from Dallas' when they make the RB a WR on passing plays. Zeke has 4 catches on 11 targets for 42nd. pic.twitter.com/PKIxu90MYe
— Bob Sturm (@SportsSturm) January 17, 2019
Throw in Trayveon’s pass protection skills and he’s the balanced running back the Cowboys would love to have in the 4th round, especially with their compensatory pick. The value here makes the most sense as we will get to some good players later in this draft.