Last offseason, the Dallas Cowboys had a chance to upgrade their RB room in a big way as several free agents (Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, D’Andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins) were available on the open market.
Despite those names, the Cowboys went in a different direction at RB in free agency, re-signing Rico Dowdle and bringing back Ezekiel Elliott to Dallas, who spent the 2023 season with the New England Patriots.
Through the first six weeks of the 2024 season, the Cowboys didn’t commit to either running back, even though Dowdle had outsnapped Elliott four times over that stretch. Eventually, the Cowboys decided to go with Dowdle as the lead back, which paid huge dividends in the second half of the season.
Now the Cowboys are hoping to re-sign Dowdle, who is an unrestricted free agent after coming off his first 1,000-yard rushing season in his career (1,079 yards and two touchdowns on 235 carries).
In an interview with David Moore of the Dallas Morning News on Sunday, Cowboys chief operating officer and co-owner Stephen Jones made it clear that the team wants to re-sign Dowdle and had nothing but complementary things to say about the running back.
“The same with Rico, obviously. Rico had a great year. He got most of his yards in half of a season, once we got back committed to the run. ... I’m a big fan of Rico’s."
It’s nice that the Cowboys finally realized what Dowdle was capable of, as fans called for him to be the lead back since training camp. Between Weeks 9-17, Dowdle averaged 83.3 yards on 17.6 carries per game (10 games).
This was a big difference from the first six games of the season, where the 26-year-old running back had 41 yards on 9.8 carries per game.
That said, no one knew what to expect from Dowdle as he never had the opportunity to be the feature back in Dallas. However, to his credit, the fourth-year running back performed when his number was called and provided Dallas a spark in the backfield.
With Dallas having the No. 12 overall pick in the draft, many analysts believe they will consider former Boise State standout Ashton Jeanty, who was the best running back in the country and Heisman runner-up this past season. But Dowdle’s performance in 2024 has given Dallas a lot to think about this offseason.