Malik Davis is not a new face for the Dallas Cowboys. Despite just being added to the Cowboys roster before last week’s Eagles game, Davis has been a familiar face for the Cowboys for quite some time now. Davis, now 27, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Cowboys after the 2022 NFL Draft out of the University of Florida.
Davis has spent most of his NFL career bouncing around from the Cowboys’ practice squad, to the Cowboys active roster, and was a free agent before the Cowboys brought him back in training camp after veteran running back Miles Sanders was dealing with injuries. Davis originally started out the 2025 season on the practice squad with Javonte Williams, Sanders, and Jaydon Blue taking turns dressing on game days. After Sanders landed on injured reserve, and Blue still needing time to mature as a professional, Davis has seen his number called over the last few weeks to serve as Williams’ backup.
In his five games on the active roster in 2025, Davis has taken advantage of his limited opportunities. He has 97 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. While his impact was quiet in his first three games, Davis has two huge runs over the last two games that played a part in back-to-back wins against the two Super Bowl teams from 2024.
Against the Philadelphia Eagles, Davis had a 21-yard explosive run to get the Cowboys right on the edge of field goal range early in the teams attempt to overcome their 21-point deficit from the first half. In the Cowboys Thanksgiving game win, Davis had another explosive run of 43 yards for a touchdown that gave the Cowboys their first lead of the game. As you can imagine, Davis was thrilled with that touchdown run.
“It’s a great feeling,” Davis said after the game, still soaking in the surrealism of the moment. “I told [my teammates] when I was coming off the field, I was like, ‘It’s no better feeling, you know?’ I prayed so hard for these moments, and my teammates, they watched me, and they know what I’ve been going through — my family, they watched me come in and work every day, and it feels great.
“Now that the world can see, I’m just scratching the surface. They just saw a little peek of what I could do.”
With Jaydon Blue’s continued struggles to earn a jersey on game day, Davis has proven to be a quality option to spell Javonte Williams throughout games, and plays a solid special teams role as well. The story of Davis is a really interesting one, and though he has yet to prove to be a guy you can truly rely on, last year’s version of Rico Dowdle is something to think about when projecting Davis’ role and impact on the team in the future.
But so far for 2025, Davis has exceeded any and all expectations, and has played a key role in the Cowboys recent winning streak as they continue to make a push for the playoffs.
See More:
