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As Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is receiving flack for the stalling of CeeDee Lamb's contract extension among other ordeals dealing with Dak Prescott and others, there are also questions about the team's inactivity during free agency. With fans locking in their bold predictions for the Cowboys' upcoming season, one of the players available that fans wanted the team to take a look at was running back Derrick Henry.
With the drama surrounding Jones and the Cowboys with such players as Prescott, he was on the Stephen A. Smith show where the host bluntly asked him “Why didn’t you go after Derrick Henry?” which prompted a response. Jones felt that the running back position was taken care of when they were reunited with Ezekiel Elliot in the offseason.
“First of all we might have a little difference as to what we were lacking the most,” Jones said. “It is a very common matter of fact that when you look at the coming season you've got some soft spots in a football team or in any team I think. And so it's a question of where do your resources, where do they need the areas that need the most attention and candidly I thought in Zeke that we really had an opportunity. I know that how badly he wanted to get back with the Cowboys, I personally thought that his work there in New England was better than maybe a lot of other people evaluated it. I thought he did carry the mail and some critical times for them.”
“I have more belief that Zeke gives us what we need in our short yardage than maybe a lot of fans do,” Jones continued.
Cowboys with Ezekiel Elliot, Dalvin Cook, and Rico Dowdle as RBs
As Jones mentioned, the Cowboys signed back Elliot after he spent one season with the New England Patriots and praised his time there where he rushed for 642 yards to go along with three touchdowns. However, there was some interest reportedly from Henry in going to the Cowboys, but eventually reached a deal with the Baltimore Ravens.
Elliot has been productive with Dallas in previous years, but now as he has had some regression, he will be sharing the backfield with other players such as Rico Dowdle, who people believe will be a breakout player, and the veteran Dalvin Cook. When Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was asked about the running back depth chart, he confirmed Elliot being the starter, but that they would use all the players in the room according to NBC Sports.
“Hey, let’s be honest. You don’t just play with 11 on offense or defense,” McCarthy said. “So, I mean usually closer to 14 guys you would consider starters. And this thing even goes further than the depth chart because when you want to announce an offense or announce the defense, teams I’ve been a part of you never just announce 11 guys. So I think it’s a product of that. So it’ll take more than one running back, too. That’s just not the way we want to play. I don’t want to get into rotation. We can talk more about this next week, but those guys will all play.”
Dallas opens the season on Sunday on the road against the Cleveland Browns.
