Projecting the Dallas Cowboys final 53-man roster on offense

Running backs: 3

Projected starter: Ezekiel Elliott

Projected backups: Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris

Potential practice squad player: Jahad Thomas

Ezekiel Elliott is coming off of a rookie season that emphatically put his stamp on the league and was the primary force in re-establishing the Cowboys’ offensive identity.

That identity is a relentless, run-first team that will grind defenses down and stay in great down and distance to allow balanced and unpredictable play calling to flourish on second and third downs.

Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden are among the most decorated backup running backs in the entire league and are capable of starting for many teams.

Morris showed early on in last year that he was more than capable of keeping the offense rolling when Zeke needed a breather but was used less frequently as the 2016 season wore on and eventually he was inactive for several games to finish out the year.

McFadden was a 1000 yard rusher in 2015 when the Cowboys offense was miserable and is an affordable backup that provides this team with insurance and depth.

Jahad Thomas is an undersized rookie free agent from Temple that has a wiggle to his game that makes you interested to see what he can be. From what I have seen, he has solid vision, average burst and below average top end speed. But his lateral quickness is good and he has natural instincts to make players miss in the hole. He is a solid receiver as well but shows nothing as a pass protector which is what he will need to work on if he wants a shot at making the roster.

On the the wide receivers…