Bob Donnan-Imagn Images There are several running backs (besides the main one) to know before the 2025 NFL Draft. The Dallas Cowboys easily have one of the worst running attacks in the NFL. Through six games the Cowboys have totaled 463 yards for a team average of 3.5 yards per attempt. Rico Dowdle leads the team in rushing, but as a talent, he’s “fine.” Ezekiel Elliott doesn’t have the same explosiveness he once had and has struggled to succeed in his second stint with the team. Deuce Vaughn, who many expected to provide Dallas with an explosive change of pace runner, has been outrushed by Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Perhaps this was all predictable. The Cowboys were supposed to draft a running back, but they boldly ignored the advice and did not draft a running back. Dallas can’t longer overlook the need for a runner, as the position needs new blood and a fresh start. A new darling prospect has emerged as the college football season has progressed. Ashton Jeanty from Boise State has exploded on the scene and is challenging for the Heisman Award. The junior from Jacksonville, FL, has totaled 1,247 yards in six games with 17 rushing touchdowns. Jeanty has thrust himself to the head of the running back class, and Cowboys fans have already started the campaign to bring him to Dallas. Not so fast. If Jeanty is as good as advertised, he’ll likely have many suitors, and the Cowboys may not be in range to draft him. Think back to Bijan Robinson. Through the many edited images of Robinson in a Cowboys uniform and online debates of positional value, fans overlooked who else had Robinson in their sights. Before spending months fawning over a prospect and getting hopes up, considering alternative options is a good idea. Here are three running backs to watch from now and throughout the draft season. Devin Neal Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Devin Neal has been on the radar for over a year. Last season, Neal exploded for the Jayhawks. He ran for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns. Neal has been overshadowed by the struggles of Kansas, who have fallen to a 1-5 record. The Jayhawks’ defense has allowed 30 points per game over their five losses, taking Neal out of the game plan and reducing his impact in games. Furthermore, Neal has also taken a backseat to other running backs in the Big 12, such as Ollie Gordon and D.J. Giddens. The senior has good size at 5’11”, 215 lbs. Neal is a dynamic runner with long speed and an ideal fit as an outside zone runner with just enough toughness to run between the tackles. Neal is also a reliable pass catcher who has the willingness to block oncoming blitzes. Is Devin Neal even real!!?? 48-yard TD on his FIRST TOUCH OF THE SEASON pic.twitter.com/voxiwt7jzD — Kansas Football (@KU_Football) September 2, 2023 Omarion Hampton Bob Donnan-Imagn Images Omarion Hampton will be the second runner off the board. Book it. Hampton provides the perfect blend of patience and vision. Hampton displays excellent instincts as a runner to see cut-back lanes and catch would-be tacklers in the wrong gap. He’s got a thickly built frame and is a punishing runner that bludgeons defenses as the game wears on. He’ll fight for every blade of grass, and defenders have to swarm him to bring him down. Upon making contact with defenders, he is a battering ram. He can carry a load for an offense and has no problem taking on high-volume carries. The North Carolina offense has suffered several injuries at quarterback, but Hampton has been the one constant. This season, he has run for 901 yards and recorded 20 receptions. At this rate, he’ll set career-highs in receptions. Like Neal, Hampton is a viable option out of the backfield and is the definition of a three-down back. His size, physicality, and reliability under a steady workload are reminiscent of Ezekiel Elliott. Behind the right offensive line, he could have an immediate impact as a rookie. Really, really impressive run by UNC running back Omarion Hampton. Contact balance + acceleration to eliminate the angle from the safety. Too bad now Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins ruined it with a chase down forced fumble at the goal line. Outstanding hustle and closing speed. pic.twitter.com/syGelfkEye — Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) June 8, 2024 Jonah Coleman Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Jonah Coleman joined the Washington Huskies after transferring from Arizona. Coleman had modest numbers for the Wildcats, but you’ll notice his skill jumps off the screen when watching him play. Coleman has very shifty feet for a running back his size at almost 230 pounds. His thick lower half makes defenders slip right off him when he is being arm-tackled. Once contacted by defenders, he maintains his balance quickly to regain full speed abruptly. Coleman has sudden hips to quickly change direction at a moment’s notice to go along with soft hands as a receiver and effortlessly makes defenders miss in space. Coleman could start as a two-down back but, with gradual experience, form into a three-down workhorse at the NFL level. Jonah Coleman will probably be a day three pick in a loaded RB class but man this guy is a ton of fun No wasted reps with this dudepic.twitter.com/jijIUpX0OC https://t.co/xP0WhFgpA3 — Joe O’Leary (@TheHQNerd) October 9, 2024

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Who wins tonight… New York or Pittsburgh? The New York Jets play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football. FanDuel has the Jets as 1.5-point favorites over the Steelers. Final score prediction: Jets 23 – Steelers 27. Check out FanDuel for all of your NFL betting needs. This is an open thread for game chat.

Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images Check out some Sunday NFL action. More NFL action in the late afternoon slot. This is an open thread for game chat.

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images Check out some Sunday NFL action. The Cowboys are on a bye, so enjoy some other NFL games. This is an open thread for game chat.

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images It has been quite the week for the Cowboys. If you were to describe the 2024 Dallas Cowboys with a Taylor Swift song, there’s little question right now that the pick would be “Down Bad.” It’s a tough time for the fan base right now, as the team got embarrassed at home for the third time this year and have to sulk with all that negative energy for an extra week with the bye. It’s even harder to look forward to the next game out of the bye, since that involves a road trip to the west coast to face a 49ers team that’s had their number lately. All indications point to the Cowboys dropping to 3-4 in a week’s time. Meanwhile, the Eagles face the Giants this week and are likely to improve to 4-2 and the Commanders seem likely to get to an NFC East best 5-2 after facing the dreadful Panthers this week. The race for the division is tough enough, let alone positioning oneself to contend in the postseason against the best of the NFC. The Cowboys are quickly falling behind in both competitions, and their schedule isn’t getting any easier. Can they figure things out during this bye week, or are they doomed for another reset after the year? Our own Tom Ryle and David Howman discuss. Tom: Just looking at them, there seems to be something really missing in the team. They staged a furious comeback against the Ravens after falling behind by 22, but when they fell short, it seemed to really hurt them. They barely beat a couple of pretty bad teams in the Giants and Steelers, then the Lions just took them to the woodshed. For years, there have been questions about just how soft the franchise really is. It looks like the answer is somewhere between marshmallow and fog. I’ve long suspected the culture of The Star is not good, with a lack of accountability. That comes from the owner being the main architect of the roster, and Jerry Jones seems hesitant to admit he made a mistake. This year, I think it was badly compounded by some clear signs Mike McCarthy was being set up to fail. It is hard to argue Jerry is not already thinking about who he wants to hire. (I shudder at the prospect that he is already planning on Bill Belichick.) I think this has permeated the team and undermined McCarthy. With the current injury issues and the dismal state of the offensive line and running game, I don’t see how they can turn it around. It really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. David: I don’t disagree in the slightest about McCarthy being set up to fail. Several people in league circles have commented about how Jerry Jones prefers to let his coaches’ contracts expire rather than fire them, because of the savings to be had, and that is the only logical explanation for him keeping McCarthy around this year but not giving him an extension. I also believe McCarthy believes in himself and still expects a good year. That would explain why he hired Don Yee as his agent in the offseason, likely looking to capitalize on another strong season and make Jerry’s wallet hurt. But perhaps McCarthy underestimated the level to which the owner can impact – positively or negatively – the morale of this team. Last year’s team entered the bye week on a similar down note, though things are definitely feeling worse this year than they were last year. Still, McCarthy has already shown an ability to turn things around coming out of the bye: last year, they won six of their first seven after the bye week and won the division. And the Cowboys have historically been better after the bye anyway with McCarthy; they’re 18-12 before the bye and 25-13 after the bye, a noticeable improvement. If the players in this building still have any shred of respect for their head coach, they’ll come out of this week of rest and play hard for him. If they don’t, well, then that’s a problem unto itself. Tom: Yes, it is, but there may be more important ones, namely the way injuries have ravaged the defense, the dysfunction of the offensive line, the lack of an effective running game or run defense, and what certainly looks like a breakdown in chemistry between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Even if the team does put its best effort on the field, it may simply not be enough against the better teams remaining on the schedule. To make matters worse, there is a legit argument to be made that both the Eagles and the Commanders are now better teams than the Cowboys. For years they have feasted on weak competition within the division. That cupboard looks bare. I’ll also throw out that the rest of the coaching staff is not exactly excelling, and I’m looking directly at Mike Zimmer when I say that. The defense is barely slowing the opponents down. I know losing Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and DaRon Bland has a very negative effect, but it is the DC’s job to figure out a way to not just fall apart due to injuries. That is not happening. I always had an uneasy feeling that eight wins might be the ceiling for the team, and now I’m not sure how close they can get to that. And I have no idea how they can make it better before the housecleaning starts in January. David: I don’t really have any shade to throw Zimmer’s way, mostly because of the aforementioned injuries – which, by the way, those three should be returning very soon – but also because he has a very long track record of being the exact opposite of soft. As far as the talent goes, I think the Cowboys have more than enough to win the division and even compete for a chance to

Tim Heitman-Imagn Images Your Sunday morning Cowboys news. Bye-ology Report: Assessing the Cowboys at the break – Staff, DallasCowboys.com Looking forward for the Cowboys after the break. Need (much) more from this guy … Tommy – Dak Prescott. Sure, the run game has struggled to open up the offense, but the highest paid QB in the NFL needs to make plays to help counter that. Nick – One of my favorite players of all time is Zack Martin. And I get it, players get older and it’s not the same. But with the youth on this O-line, the Cowboys need to be able to rely on Martin more than ever. Patrik – CeeDee Lamb: On this offense, he is him, period. Problem is, there hasn’t yet been four quarters of him destroying a defense. It will all go as he does, offensively. Expectations between now and Thanksgiving … Patrik: Impossible to know what comes out of the bye, so I’ll lean on recency under McCarthy and expect them to use the humiliation against the Lions, plus the bye, as a launching pad. Nick: You’ve split the first six games – oddly enough with undefeated on the road and winless at home. But even if they can manage another split, they’ll be in decent shape. While I wouldn’t dare look past this 49ers game next on the schedule, the Nov. 3 game in Atlanta seems to be one this team absolutely has to have. Tommy: Find a way to win at home. The Cowboys are 16-2 over the last two seasons at AT&T Stadium coming into this year, and the fans haven’t gone anywhere. Regaining the advantage and confidence on home turf is going to play a big role in how the rest of the season plays out. Russini’s what I’m hearing: Jerry Jones, master of deflection – Dianna Russini, The Athletic Is Jerry Jones really the master of deflection as Russsini explains, or did he simply lose his cool in public? In any case, forget about any coaching changes or further trades this year. In the aftermath of his heated exchange with local radio hosts, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has succeeded in one thing: deflection. Despite the team’s blowout loss on his 82nd birthday, Jones has completely taken the heat off his players and coaching staff during their bye week. It’s been all about Jerry’s outburst — very little about the Cowboys’ underachieving offense or their struggling defense. Jones told me at the owners’ meetings in Atlanta that he has no plans to fire head coach Mike McCarthy or any coordinators. He also added that Dallas won’t be making roster moves before the NFL trade deadline in November. He may be an irritated owner at the moment, but he still believes in what “Jerry the GM” has built. Cowboys Corner: Grading the season so far, including an ‘F’ for defense – David Helman & Ralph Vacciano, Foxsports Will Jerry Jones try to fire everyone who doesn’t kowtow to Jerry The Munificent? Owner/GM Jerry Jones Vacchiano: He already got an F for the offseason when he passed on all the available running backs (including Derrick Henry, who got just $9 million guaranteed from Baltimore). Now he’s passed on available receivers like Davante Adams (traded to the Jets) and old friend Amari Cooper (traded to the Bills). Meanwhile, he continues to make the laughable excuse that they don’t have the salary cap room to add any outside help. He does get credit for locking up Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to long-term contract extensions and for his plan to lock up Micah Parsons in the offseason. That’s great for the future, but what about the now? Maybe he’ll wake up before the trading deadline. But for now, the only good thing Jones has done to help his team is not panic. He could become reactionary and fire McCarthy or something. But he at least is smart enough to recognize they’re just one game back in the NFC East and the division and conference are very ripe for the taking. He just has to do something to help them take it. Grade: D Head Coach Mike McCarthy Helman: I’ve been a longtime defender of McCarthy, because he’s brought a level of stability to Dallas that the organization hadn’t seen in decades. You can scoff at the playoff failures all you want, but 2021-23 was the first time the Cowboys had strung together three consecutive playoff appearances since they were winning championships in the 90s. With all of that said, I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to defend six weeks into 2024. This team looks mostly abysmal on both sides of the ball, and a lot of that lies at McCarthy’s feet. He certainly deserves some blame for a shaky offensive performance, as he is in his second year as the playcaller. Everything looks hard for that unit. The Cowboys can’t run the ball, their receivers can’t generate separation and they can’t convert in the red zone. There are no “easy” buttons in this offense. Some of that might be on the front office for failing to upgrade the personnel, but a good playcaller can negate some of that. McCarthy has not. McCarthy might not oversee the Dallas defense on a day-to-day level, but as the head coach, he still bears some responsibility for that side of the ball — which, yikes. All in all, I’ll give McCarthy credit that the team is 3-3, and the Cowboys have managed to outplay some of the manageable teams on their schedule. That’s not the expectation or the standard in Dallas, though. Grade: D- Dallas Cowboys fan viewing guide for Week 7: Grouping games to watch during the bye – Aaron Kasinitz, Lone Star Live Even though the Cowboys are off this week, there’s plenty of reason to tune in to the NFL this weekend. Keeping an eye on the division New York Giants (2-4) at Philadelphia Eagles (3-2); 12.p.m. on Fox Carolina

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images Cowboys fanbase is over this team and front office The Dallas Cowboys fanbase is over it. Never before since we’ve been tracking confidence in the direction of the franchise has the percentage of those answering in the affirmative been lower. After the embarrassing loss to the Detroit Lions at home, all faith has been cashed out. We asked earlier in the week if you believe the franchise is headed in the right direction, and the answer was the lowest of any SB Nation team fanbase this week at 3%. The next closest mark was the Jacksonville Jaguars fans at 5% and the Cleveland Browns fans at 9%. Both of those teams are 1-5 on the year. The rot has gone so far that hopes of making the playoffs in 2024 are also at a very low number. Only 11% fans think that Dallas will turn their season around and make a charge into the playoffs. This is really an unprecedented low for a team that is 3-3 on the season. But the blowouts at home, and the fan’s simmering anger from the offseason where it was felt Jerry Jones and company did little to improve the team, together have reached a boiling point.