The Dallas Cowboys don't appear any closer to naming Javonte Williams' backup, and that's perfectly fine. It's only the second week of training camp, and the RB2 battle was never going to be settled this early. This competition should stretch through the rest of August.
If we had to pick a leader in the clubhouse, though, it's probably Jaydon Blue, who's ripped some big plays despite Quinnen Williams and the defensive line providing serious resistance up front.
One area where the Cowboys are clearly making an effort to feature Blue is the screen game. Dallas hasn't had a consistently effective screen game since Ezekiel Elliott's prime, and while it's only been a couple of practices, Blue is showing that he can bring that dimension to the offense.
Jaydon Blue can be the reason the Cowboys have an effective screen game again
At Tuesday's practice, Blue caught a screen pass and showed exactly what made Elliott unstoppable on screens: He patiently let the play develop before exploding into the open field, outrunning his convoy of Tyler Smith and Tyler Booker for a big gain (h/t Jon Machota, The Athletic).
There's a world of difference between executing a screen in training camp and doing it on Sundays. Even so, Cowboys fans will gladly take any sign of a functional screen game, and Blue has already provided a glimpse of what he could bring to that aspect of the offense.
No defender wants to see CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and KaVontae Turpin coming at them with a head of steam, but no player on the roster is as dangerous as Blue in open space. He has a different gear. All he needs is one or two blocks, and it's off to the races.
Prime Ezekiel Elliott was a little different. He was a threat to take any touch to the house because of his vision and ability to run past or through defenders. It may be hard to remember because of how fast he declined, but young Zeke was as nimble as he was powerful.
Former Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott was virtually unstoppable on screen passes
Cowboys fans may remember Elliott's 83-yard screen touchdown against the Steelers as a rookie in 2016. Two years later, he took a screen pass 73 yards to the house against the 49ers. That's the kind of explosive element Dallas has been missing from its screen game.
As satisfying as it was watching Elliott wear down defenses between the tackles, there was something different about watching him go to work on a screen. Once he found daylight, it usually meant six points.
In fairness to the likes of Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle, the Cowboys' screen design wasn't anything to write home about during their respective stints as RB1 post-Zeke. The blocking often wasn't up to snuff, either.
Having a unicorn like Elliott helped, but Dallas also had the game's best offensive line, headlined by Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, and Travis Frederick.
Brian Schottenheimer and Klayton Adams clearly want to get Tyler Smith and Co. out in space as much as possible this season. The blocking has to be there, but Blue's ability to turn a well-blocked screen into a chunk play is what's been missing from Dallas' offense since Elliott was winning rushing titles left and right early in his career.
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