Predicting the Cowboys running backs final stat lines for 2022
The Dallas Cowboys are heading into a season that may very well determine the long-term future for them at the running back position. The team can get out of Ezekiel Elliott’s contract after this season without too much dead cap, which they have already hinted to. Tony Pollard’s contract also ends at the end of the season, making this year a huge one for the running back group as a whole.
Stephen Jones says the Cowboys looked at running back during the draft because Tony Pollard's going to be free next year and Rico Dowdle is going to be restricted.
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) April 30, 2022
He also added "Zeke's making a lot of money"
Unless Zeke gets back anywhere close to his “glory days”, it is likely the team will move on from him.
The odds are stacked against him due to others needing or possibly wanting contracts after this season, including Pollard, Dalton Schultz, Terence Steele, and Anthony Brown. The former fourth-overall pick enjoyed a 1000-yard season in 2021, but it will likely take an elite year for the Joneses to keep him on the roster.
Meanwhile, Pollard had the best year of his career, looking like the offense’s most explosive player at times. His game is reminiscent of Alvin Kamara, which can be crucial to this team’s success if that amount of potential could be tapped into.
Behind Pollard, the depth backs consist of Rico Dowdle, season finale star JaQuan Hardy, and UDFA’s Aaron Shampklin and Malik Davis, according to OurLads.com. Only one of these players, Hardy, saw playing time last season, and even so, he only had four carries for 29 yards and a touchdown.
For this exercise, I will be predicting the depth RBs, Pollard’s, and Elliotts’s stat lines for this season. For Pollard and Zeke, I will be going through game-by-game, predicting their stats for each game, and coming up with a cumulative stat line for each at the end.
Predicting the final stats for all of the Dallas Cowboys running backs in 2022
Depth RB’s Stat line Predictions
Rico Dowdle – 21 carries, 78 yards, 1 TD
JaQuan Hardy – 7 carries, 29 yards
Dowdle missed the 2021 season due to a hip injury, but he should be back in action this season. With Elliott and Pollard ahead of these two, I don’t expect either to get many carries, aside from games out of reach late and maybe a meaningless Week 18 matchup.
Dowdle is a quick back who could be used to scamper for short gains late in games. Hardy isn’t great at anything in particular, but he showed good determination and grit whenever given the chance.
As for the UDFAs, I don’t think Shampklin or Davis will play at all. In fact, they may get cut or spend the season on the practice squad. Unless both of the top two RBs get injured at the same time, they should spend the season without any game time. Newcomer Ryan Nall is expected to take on a fullback-type role, so I don’t expect him to take any carries either.