There has been a lot to like about the hiring of Brian Schottenheimer. It is wildly important that the Dallas Cowboys allowed Schottenehimer to build his own staff. Schottenheimer rewarded their faith by making a barrage of impressive hires on both sides of the ball.
Just as encouraging, though, is Schottenheimer's vision for the offense. The first-time head coach all but revealed he wants to be a run-first offense to set up play action. He is also a big fan of motion, shifting and cut splits; all things Mike McCarthy hardly ever deployed.
It seems Schottenheimer wants to modernize the Cowboys' offense while taking some of the pressure off Dak Prescott. That starts with improving the run game.
While Prescott was not good for his standards last season, Dallas sported one of the worst rushing attacks until Rico Dowdle was declared RB1 two months into the schedule. Of course, Prescott got injured in Week 9 so he wasn't able to reap the benefits of Dowdle's strong second half.
Well, if the team's recent pre-draft visits are any indication, they intend to select one of the premier running backs in this year's class. That would definitely help the cause.
Cowboys meeting with all of the top RB prospects before 2025 NFL Draft
Of the Cowboys’ 30 facility visits, 14 have been reported, per Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The list includes Ohio State stars TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, both of whom could be in play at pick No. 44 overall in the second round.
Of the Cowboys’ 30 facility visits, 14 have been reported:
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) April 4, 2025
Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson
Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka
Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins
Texas OL Kelvin Banks
Texas DT Alfred Collins
Texas S Andrew Mukuba
Virginia Tech RB Bhayshul Tuten
Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen…
Henderson is one of the fastest and shiftiest backs in the class and would bring a home-run hitting dimension to the backfield. Judkins, meanwhile, is considered a three-down back in the NFL. He led the SEC in rushing as a true freshman at Ole Miss and solidified himself as a likely second-round pick with an electric Combine performance.
North Carolina phenom Omarion Hampton is also on the list. Hampton could come off the board as early as the first round. Some mocks have projected Hampton to Dallas at No. 12 overall. While not a special prospect, he's regarded as the second-best RB in the class behind Ashton Jeanty.
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Speaking of Jeanty, he was one of the Cowboys' many Dallas Day visits. These visits do not count against the team's 30-visits. Joining Jeanty on the Dallas Day agenda were Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon and Miami's Damien Martinez, who could both be in play in round three.
Last, but surely not least, is Virginia Tech's Bhayshul Tuten. The former Hokie was reported as a 30-visit, which speaks to how he's regarded in the building.
Tuten was a huge winner from the Combine after he posted the fastest 40-yard dash of any running back at 4.32 seconds. While Tuten has plenty of speed to burn, he's no one-trick pony. While he's unpolished in pass protection, his thick frame allows him to shed tacklers, as he ranked 23rd in the country in missed tackles forced last season, per PFF.
Any of these RBs would give Dallas a higher ceiling relative to last season. That obviously has more to do with Ezekiel Elliott, who was signed immediately after the draft since the front office opted against drafting a running back, than Rico Dowdle.
The Elliott experiment was an unmitigated disaster. While Dowdle moved on in free agency, moving forward with one (potentially two) rookie RBs has been a long time coming and gives the team the best chance to suceed next season.