The Dallas Cowboys got the wind knocked out of them in their final practice before the season as running back Malik Davis suffered a season-ending hip injury.
Dallas signed Israel Abanikanda to the active roster from the practice squad, and they have now signed Tyler Goodson off the Atlanta Falcons' practice squad, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reported on Tuesday morning.
This means the Cowboys have four RBs on the 53-man roster: Javonte Williams, Emari Demercado, Israel Abanikanda, and Tyler Goodson, which is more than what they started the season with following roster cuts.
A former Iowa standout, Goodson was a preseason star for the Falcons this summer. At 5-foot-9 and 197 pounds, he has almost an identical frame to Davis, who is 5-foot-9 and 105 pounds. Both backs have deceptively quick feet and the patience to let blocks develop, but they're also decisive enough to hit a crease before it fully opens.
Watch Goodson's 49-yard touchdown run from the preseason and tell me he doesn't remind you of Davis.
Tyler Goodson and Malik Davis have a lot of similarities
Tyler Goodson did a little bit of everything for the Falcons in the preseason. He carried 18 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. His 49-yard TD run is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, but he averaged 2.0 yards after contact per carry and forced four missed tackles. Not bad for the preseason.
Goodson also caught four passes for 40 yards and totaled 31 special teams snaps, per PFF:
- 9 snaps on kickoff returns
- 9 snaps on kickoff coverage
- 6 snaps on punt returns
- 7 snaps on punt return coverage
Wouldn't you know, Davis played on those four units for Dallas last season, logging 44 snaps on kickoff returns, 53 snaps on kickoff coverage, 30 snaps on punt returns, and 20 snaps on punt return coverage.
The similarities are hard to ignore, but what if we told you that Davis and Goodson both went undrafted in 2022? Davis has seen a bit more regular-season work than Goodson since then. Let's compare some of their pre-draft testing and career rushing numbers.
Malik Davis | Tyler Goodson |
|---|---|
4.66 40-yard dash | 4.42 40-yard dash |
10'7" broad jump | 10'3" broad jump |
39.5" vertical | 36.5" vertical |
1.55 10-yard split | 1.51 10-yard split |
4.6 career yards per carry | 4.9 career yards per carry |
25 career games | 33 career games |
Like we said: Very similar players.
The Cowboys reportedly signed Tyler Goodson to their active roster
Of course, just because Goodson and Davis have similar profiles does not mean he's going to usurp Demercado and Abanikanda, Having said that, Demercado only played two offensive snaps in Week 1, while Williams received 12 carries on 41 snaps.
The Cowboys are going to continue to lean on Williams, who was arguably their best offensive player in Sunday's loss, and Demercado's history in Klayton Adams' scheme -- combined with his pass-blocking ability -- give him an advantage over the rest of the room. But any notion that Demercado has a stranglehold on RB2 is simply untrue.
Goodson's performance this summer was enough to leave Falcons fans flummoxed when he got cut. Jason Kandel of Blogging Dirty, FanSided's dedicated Falcons site, elaborated on Goodson's surprising release
"Tyler Goodson arrived in Atlanta on a one-year deal in free agency, and instantly became the favorite to win the RB3 job," Kandel said.
"He turned heads in camp, had some nice runs during the preseason, and made an impact on special teams. He looked as close to being a roster lock as it gets. But when the Falcons only rostered two RBs on their initial 53, he was probably the biggest surprise cut before the deadline"
The Falcons faithful sure seem bummed about losing Goodson. The fact that Dallas was willing to sign him straight off Atlanta's practice squad says plenty about how they view him. He has his work cut out to get onto the field, but the Cowboys clearly see something here.
Maybe that something is Malik Davis.
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