3 Players who should be on the Dallas Cowboys 2021 Christmas Wish List
Dallas Cowboys Wish Number 3:
Draft a running back
Before everyone brings out the pitchforks and mob mentality, let us think about this for JUST ONE SECOND.
It wasn’t too long ago that people were happy with Ezekiel Elliott. He looked incredibly agile and his ability to generate yards after contact in between the tackles was proving incredibly valuable for the Cowboys as it gave them shorter yardage situations allowing the offense to move at an efficient rate. Tony Pollard then worked in tandem to give the team the explosive play before they returned to the ground and pound mentality with Elliott.
Obviously, NFL seasons are long because our current view of Elliott is that he’s unable to do anything with his knee injury and fans’ saving grace in Tony Pollard actually had to sit out last week against the Washington Football Team due to a torn plantar fascia. That left Corey Clement as the second RB on the roster for Sunday.
Injuries happen in football, that’s the nature of the game, but the dip in production for both Elliott and Pollard has been a result of the lack of cohesion and good play from the offensive line. This isn’t a running back problem as much as the result of a couple of other problems.
But why does any of this mean the Cowboys should draft a running back? Elliott and Pollard have very different skill sets. Elliott’s lateral agility and short-area quickness make him better at running on dives and DBLs runs; Pollard’s acceleration and contact balance make him a better option for Powers and Outside zone runs. Elliott doesn’t have that acceleration, but Pollard doesn’t have the short-area quickness and vision to match Elliott’s. They truly are a thunder and lightning combination.
If the Cowboys are willing to draft a running back, on Day 3 or the end of Day 2, it gives them a contingency plan in the event either one of the two running backs go down due to injury. Obviously, in this instance, it would mean the running back of their choosing can operate in a combinational running scheme, but even if they were just placing a greater emphasis on finding someone with Elliott’s skill set and better athletic ability, that would help OC Kellen Moore and this offensive line as they are better built to run a Gap running scheme than a zone-heavy running scheme.
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That concludes my wishlist for this year. Obviously, most fans would love it for the Cowboys to retain all their own free agents, but there are many worthy of a big-money contract in this upcoming cycle. The draft will once again be the Cowboys’ best friend this offseason even if they have much fewer picks.