If there was something the Dallas Cowboys failed to address during last month’s NFL draft, a position and role that they could have filled–or given themselves a chance of filling–with an incoming rookie, but failed to do so, that spot might well have been running back. The Cowboys invested in the position, of course, by giving Javonte Williams a rare early free-agent contract, signing him to a three-year, $24 million contract a month before free agency hit.
But while Williams proved his worth with 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns last year as a hard-hitting, grinding running back, he is not the kind of lightning-fast, big-play running back who can break off chunks of yardage. Williams had six plays of 20-plus yards last season, tied for the second-fewest among players with 1,200 yards rushing. He had one 40-yard play, which was also second-fewest among players with 1,200 yards rushing.
It’s not his style. The Cowboys had hoped that they had a guy to complement Williams who does have a big-play style, but he was, in the end a disappointment–fifth-round pick Jaydon Blue.
Jaydon Blue Set Back for Work Ethic
Blue is a 5-foot-9, 196-pound speedster who ran a scorching 4.39 40-yard dash at the 2025 draft combine. He was not a starter during his tenure at Texas, but showed promise as a playmaker capable of making breakaway runs, and the Cowboys gambled on him in the draft.
But Blue slipped in the draft because of concerns about his work ethic and approach to practice and film study, and when he got to the NFL, that did not change. He had just 38 carries for 129 yards last year, and after getting a chance to be the RB2 last year for four weeks in October, Blue was benched and did not return to the lineup until the season finale, when Williams was out.
Said Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer at the time, when asked about Blue getting back on the field: “Yeah, again, if he earns the right to do it, absolutely. He’s no different than the other guys. I see flashes from Jaydon all the time. I see that the talent is real. The standard is not always met, just being quite honest and frank with you guys—I’m not saying anything I haven’t said to Jaydon.”
Cowboys Could Use a Big-Play RB … Like Jaydon Blue
This week, in sizing up the gains the Cowboys made in the NFL draft, former Cowboys scout Brian Broaddus and host Eric Chiofalo of the “Love of the Star” podcast, discussed Blue–and Broaddus called out the disappointment of 2025.
He said: “You want to get more explosive in the run game … The explosiveness in the run game, and some of that is on the offensive line, but Javonte Williams, as much as we love him as that grind it out kind of back, they need Jaydon Blue to meet the expectations that they had for him when they drafted him last year. Because he is the one guy that can really bring that home-run element to the rushing attack, and I think that can go a long way.”
Cowboys Did not Draft a Big-Play Threat
Naturally, the question, then, is whether the Cowboys should have added another running back to compete with Blue heading into 2026.
Said Broaddus: “I think it’s fair to wonder that. There was supposed to be, last year, there was supposed to be more of it and we really didn’t see any of it until the last week of the season. I think we were all wondering, and in a perfect world, you probably would have added a guy who has a little bit more of a similar skillset to see, OK, which one of you guys can be that lightning back for us?
“But they had so many holes defensively that I understand why everything was just, hey, we have got to get the defense right and let’s cross our fingers that our initial evaluation of on Blue and one year of maturation can get him going a little bit. “
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