The Dallas Cowboys have one of the best running backs in football this year. No, that is not an overstatement. Javonte Williams has been that good, and Brian Schottenheimer needs to learn to trust him more in the red zone and not overthink things.
As great as Williams has been, the Cowboys don't have any semblance of a complementary back. Miles Sanders is out for the year after undergoing knee surgery, and rookie Jaydon Blue has not made the most of his opportunities.
With Blue coming off a poor cameo in Week 8, Schottenheimer all but told reporters on Wednesday that the RB2 competition is back open. Schottenheimer laid out pretty clearly what Blue needs to work on to gain the trust of the coaching staff, including protecting the football.
"... You can't put the ball on the ground," Schottenheimer said. "You have to be on top of your blitz pick-ups. The big thing I've told him about is you've got the perfect guy sitting right to your left, in Javonte, to learn from, who was you a couple of years ago as a young rookie trying to figure it out ... I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about Malik Davis and the job he's doing for us. We're all about creating competition. It's not just creating competition on the defensive side of the ball for jobs and who's going to play. It's on offense as well, and that would be another battle to watch."
Cowboys RB Jaydon Blue gets painful reality check from Brian Schottenheimer
Blue saw his most burn in the Week 8 loss to the Broncos. While he showed some burst, he had a bad fumble that was luckily recovered by Brock Hoffman. He had an impressive 14-yard run that he bounced to the outside, but he managed just 15 yards on his seven other carries.
For the season, Blue has rushed 22 times for 65 yards, equating to 3.0 yards per carry. He's only forced three missed tackles and is averaging 1.86 yards after contact per carry, per PFF. He probably needs more touches to develop a rhythm, but that won't happen until he improves on the nuances of the position, like blitz pick-ups and being in the right spot for a check-down. Putting the ball on the ground is a surefire way for a rookie to lose snaps.
It sure sounds like Malik Davis could be active when the Cowboys host the Cardinals on Monday Night Football. Sending Blue back to the bench might seem harsh (if it happens), but Blue's inconsistency dates all the way back to training camp, and fumbling was his biggest red flag coming out of Texas.
It would be an unfortunate turn of events, but Schottenheimer has been adamant since the summer that players will have to earn their role. That applies tenfold to rookies.
Davis doesn't have Blue's speed or athleticism, but he runs hard and has managed to stick around the organization for four years since being signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022. It seems like there's a real shot that he's the one spelling Williams against the Cardinals on Monday night.