Jaydon Blue. Miles Sanders. Malik Davis. Phil Mafah. Emari Demercado.
Those are the players that the Dallas Cowboys have tried to make the yin to Javonte William's yang since the beginning of last season, but to no avail. Whether it has been due to injuries, underperformance, or some nefarious combination of both, Dallas hasn't found a reliable No. 2.
But Tyler Goodson, who has been in Dallas for just over a month, may have what it takes to be that player for Brian Schottenheimer's offense. His numbers may not jump off the page, and Goodson may just be thought of as a player to spare Williams; to keep him fresh and hopefully not sink the offense.
However, the run game came alive on Monday Night Football in Week 7, and it was no coincidence that Goodson had a season-high in carries. Not only does Schottenheimer need to lean on the run, but he needs to call on Goodson to be a key part of the rushing attack for a multitude of reasons.
Tyler Goodson is growing in front of Cowboys fans' eyes
Goodson is still a young player, and he doesn't have a whole lot of tread on the tires in his NFL career. On Monday, he had 10 carries for 38 yards, which were the third- and fourth-most for him in a single game at the professional level so far, respectively. He is still very much getting his feet wet.
While 3.8 yards per carry isn't setting the world on fire, it's more about the way in which the Cowboys use him. Goodson is more of a shake-and-bake running back with great speed and an ability to make people miss in space, whereas Williams is more of a north-and-south runner who goes through you.
Rotating Goodson not only keeps Williams fresh so that he can run more effectively throughout the game, but siphoning snaps off makes a world of difference when it comes to the entire season. Again, it is no coincidence that, with an increased role for Goodson, Williams had a career game in Week 7.
Defenses have to face a duo of fresh running backs, which can wear them down as the game goes along, but they also have to prepare for two distinct styles and two somewhat different portions of the playbook. Defending the run over and over isn't fun, and it's even less fun facing diversification.
With great speed and vision (which he displayed on his kickoff return for a touchdown that was called back), Goodson can make an impact on this offense in a different way than Williams. His role is growing and becoming clearer, and it's a scary sight for opposing defenses.
Dallas has a fairly clear plan for Tyler Goodson, and it worked in Week 7
In a simple sense, Williams runs between the tackles at a much higher rate, and Goodson has had his runs designed with more of an emphasis on getting him to the edge. Take Week 7's game against the Eagles, for example.
Williams ran the ball 25 times, and only six of them were off the tackle or around the end. That's roughly a quarter of his carries. Goodson ran just 10 times, but four of them were off the tackle or around the end, including an end-around when he was split out as a receiver. That's 40%.
It makes sense to have Williams do the dirty work and battle for the tough yards on the interior while giving Goodson an opportunity to break a big play. These percentages aren't so dramatically different that it telegraphs what Dallas is going to do with one or the other in the game, but it shows a trend.
Several of Goodson's charted "inside runs" were also zone reads in which he cut back toward the middle. The emphasis is clearly on trying to get Goodson into space so that he can potentially use his game-breaking speed, and not on having him take on big interior defenders.
With the Cowboys' seemingly new philosophy of establishing the run, there should be plenty of carries to go around. And Williams can't take them all himself, so Goodson needs to be a key part of the rotation in the backfield.
If Dallas can continue to lean on him and give him opportunities, it'll keep defenses off balance and Williams fresh. And it'll provide Goodson the chance to break some big runs, which isn't exactly Williams' forte, and the Cowboys' offense badly needs that.
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