Getty Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott
Not only did Dallas Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones confirm the team is engaging in NFL-wide trade talks …
“We got great communication going on out there with all the teams,” Jones said Monday on 105.3 The Fan.
… he also confirmed which positions the Cowboys are sniffing around — and why — prior to Tuesday’s 53-man roster cutdown deadline.
“Losing Rico Dowdle was a tough one for us,” Jones said, per USA Today’s Jori Epstein. “Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look and see well they might need a third running back. You lose Sean McKeon, our third tight end… In general, that’s how those conversations go.”
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Examining RB Position
Dowdle recently suffered a hip malady and was placed on injured reserve, ending his 2021 season before it began. As even Jones admits, his loss was an underrated one for Dallas’ offense, as the second-year undrafted free agent had appeared to place a stranglehold around the No. 3 RB job behind Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. Dowdle led the club in preseason carries and yards at the time of his injury.
“He just hits it and he goes 100 miles per hour and I think the big thing he’s done this preseason and through last year is he developed some of the pass protection elements that people kind of overlook and then the ball catching,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said Aug. 19, via beat reporter Brianna Dix.
Dowdle’s absence gifted additional snaps to rookie UDFAs JaQuan Hardy and Brenden Knox, whom the Cowboys’ official website referred to as a “standout bubble player.” Knox recorded a team-high 47 yards on 11 carries in Sunday’s preseason finale against Jacksonville.
Someone had to fill in for Rico Dowdle and it was Knox who got the bulk of the carries. He had 11 carries for 47 yards and also caught three more passes for seven yards. Enough to make the team the third running back? Probably not, but practice squad is a realistic option.
Speaking of the in-house site, it “unofficially” predicted that Dallas will carry only two RBs on its final roster: Elliott and Pollard.
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Examining TE Position
Although they really like McKeon, who’s suffering from a significant ankle injury, the Cowboys can withstand his blow with Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz entrenched atop the depth chart. And, let’s not forget, they’re mostly secondary targets behind elite wide receivers CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup.
Currently backing up Jarwin and Schultz are veteran Jeremy Sprinkle and rookies Nick Ralston, Artayvious Lynn, and Nick Eubanks. Eubanks was named the “standout” at his spot.
Had a team-high five targets, catching three balls for 29 yards. The Cowboys will likely use a fourth tight end on the roster with Sean McKeon out. Eubanks might have done enough to stick around, at least for a while.
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL
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