Dak Prescott and the passing game are expected to do some damage against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night, but the Dallas Cowboys won't win if Prescott has to drop back to pass 40 times. They will need some semblance of support from their running game to have a chance.
Unfortunately, the running back room inspires just as much optimism as last season. The Cowboys want the Javonte Williams experiment to work so bad that he was a healthy scratch all preseason.
The hope is that Jaydon Blue will finish as the leading rusher by season's end, but he'll have to fend off fellow vet Miles Sanders for touches. At least, that's what Dallas' official depth chart suggests, as Blue was listed as RB3 behind Williams and Sanders, respectively.
Cowboys better not give Miles Sanders more touches than Jaydon Blue
Anyone else get flashbacks to Ezekiel Elliott last year? Cowboys fans will remember Elliott getting the royal treatment in preseason, not because he was lights out in training camp, but because of his track record in the league and relationship with billionaire overlord Jerry Jones.
Elliott opened the season as the starter and held on to the job until the Joneses and Mike McCarthy came to their senses and unleashed Rico Dowdle, who was the better RB all summer. Dowdle finished with 1,079 rushing yards on 4.4 yards per carry and he ranked seventh at the position with a 53.6 percent rushing success rate, per Pro Football Reference.
It would be a shame - and a major hindrance to the offense - if seniority won out in Sanders' case. While a standout early in camp, Sanders' momentum skidded to a halt after he missed two weeks of practice with a knee injury. Upon returning, he posted a dud in the second week of preseason, rushing for 15 yards on seven carries.
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Blue is comfortably the Cowboys' most explosive and talented runner. He’s not built for 20–25 touches per game, but he’s perfectly suited to be the lightning to Williams’ thunder. In a perfect world, Blue will continue to eat into Williams' workload as he settles in to the regular season.
In no scenario should Sanders be out-snapping Blue out of the gates. Sanders was arguably lucky to make the 53-man roster. As long as Blue is recovered from his heel/foot injury - and he wasn't listed on this week's injury report - he needs to have a major role in the offense.
The last thing the Cowboys need is more RB controversy after they traded Micah Parsons. It didn't take long for last year's Zeke experiment to go up in smoke. Hopefully, Brian Schottenheimer learned from his predecessor's mistakes - and the Joneses don't meddle with the on-field product.