The Dallas Cowboys have the eighth-worst rushing attack in the league, averaging only 85 yards per game. It is easy to see the lack of talent in the running back room and blame that for why the performance is poor. Ezekiel Elliott, averaging only 3.5 yards per rush, is the only NFL running back with at least 10 attempts not to break a single tackle. Rico Dowdle isn’t much better at 3.7 an attempt, and Deuce Vaughn, who is supposed to be the explosive back in the room, is averaging only three yards a rush.
The running back room hasn’t been great, but a deeper dive tells a story that not many rushers would succeed in this offense.
In Week 1, the Cowboys faced 2023’s best defense at home in a healthy Cleveland Browns team. In Week 2, the Saints scored 21 points on their first 12 plays, and Dallas was so far behind on the scoreboard the team couldn’t run the ball. The team didn’t play games conducive to running the ball well in the first two weeks, and now the Baltimore Ravens, with the best run defense through two weeks, are up next.
Saquon Barkley would be limited in these situations; it isn’t a running back issue in these games.
Dallas’ offensive line is hardly helping matters this season, and Travis Frederick isn’t walking through the locker room door. Their first-round offensive tackle, Tyler Guyton, is ranked 62nd in run blocking. There are 64 starting tackles in the NFL, so Guyton is almost the worst starter in the league. Fellow rookie Cooper Beebe is ranked 22nd amongst centers, bottom third of the position. Their two All-Pro offensive guards, Tyler Smith and Zack Martin are shockingly bad at 32nd and 37th, respectively. Terence Steele is the one player doing well on the OL, 9th as a run blocker. Even when the line does its job, the run game is only impactful if all players are making blocks and the receivers on Dallas have missed the mark as well. Brandin Cooks is the 10th-worst run blocker at his position, and Jalen Tolbert is the fifth worst.
The running back position in Dallas isn’t ideal, but the worry about the team’s ineffective rushing attack shouldn’t be focused on upgrading that position yet. Trading draft capital for a running back only for him to be stuck in poor situations with bad blocking isn’t going to change anything, and that isn’t even considerig the play-calling. The Cowboys must show they can set the running back up for success before finding better backs to take advantage of it.