Predicting which Cowboys running back will be Tony Pollard's backup this season

The Dallas Cowboys will look a little different on offense this season.

They'll have the usual offensive superstars in Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Tony Pollard. But players like Dalton Schultz and Ezekiel Elliott will be absent after being vital parts of the offense over the years.

Elliott's departure from the team came earlier in the offseason when the Cowboys decided to cut the veteran. It wasn't a surprising move considering Dallas saved $10.9 million in cap space, and the running back was coming off the worst season of his career.

Elliott finished the 2022 season with a career-low 231 rush attempts, 876 rush yards, 17 catches, and 92 receiving yards. He also averaged just 3.8 yards per carry, another career-low.

Unless Elliott took a pay cut, he was likely not going to be a part of Dallas' roster in 2023. But despite his poor showing last season, he was a big part of the team's goal-line offense. He had the second-most rushing touchdowns in a season of his career (12) and did the heavy lifting on short-yardage situations.

The Cowboys will now have to replace that in 2023.

Tony Pollard isn't known to be a goal-line back at just 209 pounds. He will be the Cowboys' primary back heading into the season, but who will backup Pollard? Who will get the goal-line touches at running back?

Let's take a look at which Cowboys running back will back up Pollard this season.

3. Deuce Vaughn

The newest member of Dallas' running back group will be a tough matchup for many opposing defenses. Dallas drafted Deuce Vaughn in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Despite Vaughn's size -- 5-foot-6, 172 pounds -- the former Kansas State product is a versatile runner and might be a steal of the draft. He's a player that is extremely hard to take down in open space and will bring a lot more speed to Dallas' offense.

Vaughn ran for 1,558 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022 and 1,404 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2021. He had 4,884 scrimmage yards and 43 total touchdowns through his three college seasons at Kansas State.

The talent is there for Vaughn and he'll surely be a part of Dallas' running back room in 2023. In the Cowboys' OTAs on Thursday, the rookie running back caught a 45-yard pass down the field from Will Grier.

The rookie running back might not be the direct backup to Pollard to start the year and could begin as the third-string option. But, there's a strong chance he makes the Week 1 roster, given his talent and explosiveness.

2. Malik Davis

The Cowboys have an interesting decision to make on Malik Davis.

He was an undrafted rookie signing last season and was stuck behind Pollard and Elliott on the depth chart. Davis didn't get many opportunities to shine, but Dallas saw enough in Training Camp and OTAs to give him a spot on the roster.

It was a limited sample size for Davis last year. However, when he did play, the Cowboys saw some good things from him. He finished the season with 38 carries for 161 yards and one touchdown while also bringing in six catches for 63 yards.

His best game of the season came in Week 10 against the Packers, when Elliott missed the contest with an injury. Davis filled in as the direct backup to Pollard and had five carries for 38 yards in just 11 offensive snaps.

Davis didn't see much action in 12 games last season but showed some bursts in his rookie season. It'll be interesting to see how Dallas treats him this offseason and into training camp.

He has a shot to make the Week 1 roster, but there's also a chance he ends up on the practice squad to begin the season, especially if Rico Dowdle stays healthy and shines during camp.

1. Ronald Jones II

The Cowboys signed Jones towards the end of March, which gave the team solid depth in the backfield behind Pollard.

Jones was a highly-rated high school prospect in 2015, rated higher than running backs Saquon Barkley and Damien Harris. At USC, he put up over 3,600 rushing yards in three years, including 1,550 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns in his junior season.

But since being drafted 38th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, Jones hasn't lived up to that status. He has zero 1,000-yard seasons in his five-year career and has just 118 carries over the last two seasons, including 17 last year with the Chiefs.

It's been a disappointing career for Jones so far, though, he has shown some flashes of his potential. As the lead back in Tampa Bay in 2020, he had 192 carries for 978 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns. Some might remember his iconic 98-yard touchdown during that season as well.

Now with the Cowboys on a one year deal, there's many different scenarios that can play out.

With undrafted rookie fullback Hunter Luepke having a shot at making the roster with his versatility in short-yard situations and the passing game, Jones might very well be the odd man out. Davis and Vaughn could easily back up Pollard.

He isn't a great pass blocker either, and that could hurt his roster spot come September. He was benched in a game in 2019 for missed pass protection blocks and ranked among the worst running backs in that category in 2020.

But there's also a scenario where Jones runs away with the RB2 job in Dallas. Jones doesn't need to run like prime Elliott to replace the former All-Pro running back. He just needs to do enough on offense to contribute.

In three of his five seasons in the NFL, Jones averaged over four yards per carry. He was also a weapon for Tampa Bay in the receiving game in 2019 as he caught over 30 passes for over 300 yards.

Jones, Davis, Vaughn and even Luepke are all fighting for roster spots. No running back -- besides Pollard -- is guaranteed one yet. The Cowboys can go with two of the four to make the roster. They could go with three of them to make the roster.

Luepke has a strong chance to make the roster as the team's primary goal-line/short-yardage back. In Mike McCarthy-led offenses in Green Bay in the past, he used fullback John Kuhn as that type of player.

All four players' roster spots remain a question mark this early into the offseason. But training camp will help in determining which running back gets the RB2 in Dallas' electric offense.

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