The Dallas Cowboys might have one of the league's best running backs in Ezekiel Elliott, but they don't have much else at the position. Elliott has been used heavily the past few years, and as teams are beginning to grow more concerned about backs' workloads, they need more depth in the backfield.
The Cowboys are clearly worried about running Elliott into the ground, and want to keep his legs fresh. To that end, Cowboys exec Stephen Jones indicated the team is looking to find a proper backup for Elliott, per Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News.
“At the end of the day you worry about what you do if Zeke's not 100 percent,” Jones said. “You want to get him as many touches as you can, but it's also a long season. We're obviously going to be looking, whether we get it done in the draft or whether we get it done in free agency.”
Last year's primary backup, Rod Smith, is still a free agent and it doesn't look like the Cowboys will be re-signing him. A reporter asked if Jones would even consider taking a running back with the 58th pick. Due to the Amari Cooper trade, the Cowboys don't have a first round pick, so 58th is the first time they'll be on the clock.
“I just think it depends on the player,” Jones said. “If that’s a first-round-caliber player in our mind, then you have to take a look. … It’s certainly a rich pick. You hope you’re drafting there in the second round a plug-in starter. … We all know if Zeke’s healthy there’s not going to be a whole lot of touches going to that player. At the same time, you never know when you’re going to need a player like that if Zeke were to miss a game,” Jones explained.
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