Wow. The Dallas Cowboys have been making moves to cut their roster to 53, but very few expected Jaydon Blue to be waived.
He was absent from the last preseason game, so he already secured his spot. Well, think again. He did have 75 yards in the second preseason game and looked like he had secured a backup RB spot, but apparently he's no longer on the team.
Following Phil Mafah being waived, it looks like Malik Davis will back up Javonte Williams. But why did this happen? Especially when Brian Schottenheimer spoke highly of Blue earlier in the offseason? Let's break it down.
Jaydon Blue gets surprisingly waived by the Dallas Cowboys
Schottenheimer specifically said "night and day" from where he was last year. In that second preseason game against Arizona, that looked true, but it still wasn't enough to make the team.
Blue was a fifth-round pick who picked up healthy scratches last season because he wasn't showing the maturity to take the field yet. He finally showed some fight in a Week 18 game against the Giants, when he had 16 rushing attempts for 64 yards and scored his first career NFL touchdown. Since then, Schottenheimer spoke highly and backed it up with a pretty nice preseason, but now he's gone.
Of those who were previously on the bubble, it didn't look like Blue was being talked about, but not playing in the final game ended up being the red flag he didn't need. It looked like he was already safe, but apparently not.
The other cuts, like Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Reddy Steward, Trevor Keegan, Shiyazh Pete and Mafah, were to be expected. But the Cowboys need to solve this RB issue. Not that it's necessarily an issue, but Williams clearly needs a true backup; if not Blue, then it's likely to be Davis at this point.
For Blue, this is a shocking and disappointing result, but he may get picked up by another team. He's fast and can be a reliable player, catching in the backfield and gaining easy yards, but his pass protection isn't as strong as Williams or Hunter Luepke's.
He may get another shot, but it won't be with the Cowboys.
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