One season after a disastrous campaign that saw them go just 7-10, the Dallas Cowboys will enter the 2025 campaign with hopes that, once again, this will be their year.
There are some reasons for optimism: quarterback Dak Prescott, who was the runner-up for MVP in 2023, played just eight games last season, and George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb should be one of the better wideout duos in football.
Still, plenty of concerns remain. Edge rusher Micah Parsons, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year finalist, has requested a trade amid tense contract negotiations. The New York Giants made significant improvements during the offseason, and the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders just faced off in the NFC Championship Game. Dallas’ over-under is set at just 8.5 wins at DraftKings Sportsbook.
The Cowboys also neglected to substantially address the running back position during the offseason, leaving veterans Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders to compete with rookie Jaydon Blue as the team’s primary back. Although none are elite NFL backs, at least one has to get carries. Below, I’ve broken down all three running backs and analyzed their fantasy prospects.
The Case for Javonte Williams:
Williams, who spent his first four seasons with the Denver Broncos before inking a one-year, $3 million contract with Dallas in the offseason, is currently listed atop the depth chart and should be considered the favorite to earn the bulk of the Cowboys’ carries during the regular season. He nearly amassed 1,000 yards as a rookie in 2021, taking 203 carries for 903 yards and four scores, and though he hasn’t replicated that production since, a career line of 606 carries, 2,394 yards, and 11 scores is passable.
That doesn’t mean he’s either a championship-level back or a fantasy league-winner. In 2024, Pro Football Focus gave him the 10th-lowest grade out of 59 qualified running backs, including the fifth-lowest running grade. Of the 44 qualified ball-carriers by Pro Football Reference’s criteria, his 3.7 yards per carry ranked third-to-last, and his 46.8% success rate ranked 13th-to-last. There’s a chance that a change in scenery could benefit him, but Denver ranked 11th in run-blocking last season and Dallas 19th, and though 12th overall pick Tyler Booker should help with that, it probably won’t make all the difference.
His style also doesn’t lend itself to elite fantasy output. His highest grades during the 2024 season were often blocking grades, which is helpful to a team but isn’t worth anything in fantasy. Plus, he tended to rush around the right side, and two of the three Cowboys blockers with the highest run-blocking grades play on the left side of the line. Williams’ output might depend largely on how quickly Booker adjusts to the speed of the NFL game. He’s currently being drafted as the 39th overall running back, which seems about right.
The Case for Miles Sanders:
Sanders has the most impressive NFL track record of any of the three backs, having recorded a 1,269-yard season and earning a Pro Bowl nod with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022. He was rewarded after that season with a four-year, $25.4 million contract with the Carolina Panthers, but that stint was a massive failure, as he rushed for just 432 yards in 2023 and 205 in 2024, 66 of which came on the final day of the season. He suffered a high-ankle sprain in a Week 10 game against the Giants, and by the time he returned for Week 18, first-choice back Chuba Hubbard had been shut down for the season, clearing the backfield for his meaningless performance.
His two disastrous seasons in Carolina diminished his value so much that Dallas was able to sign him to a one-year, $1.34 million contract. When healthy, he still might be a better back than Williams, as he recorded a 68.0 overall offense grade and a 76.1 rushing grade in 2024, significantly outpacing Williams, although the Panthers’ run-blocking unit graded out more highly than the Broncos’ did. The problem is that the track record of success for 28-year-old running backs with a lengthy history of minor leg injuries isn’t great. In his only preseason game, Sanders turned his seven carries into just 15 yards against the Baltimore Ravens’ backups.
Although Sanders slightly prefers to go left, which should give him a slight advantage given the Cowboys’ personnel, that hasn’t been enough to convince players of his fantasy value. Right now, Sanders isn’t getting drafted in even the average 14-team fantasy league. Although he might be slightly under-valued, given the wide-open nature of Dallas’ backfield, he isn’t worth banking on at this stage in his career.
The Case for Jaydon Blue:
Blue is a complete wild card. The five-foot-nine back had a solid junior season at Texas last season, taking 134 carries for 730 yards and eight touchdowns and adding 42 catches for an additional 368 yards and six scores, demonstrating efficiency that Williams and Sanders didn’t, albeit at a lower competition level. He was far from a perfect prospect, which is why he fell to the fifth round, but with his dual-threat nature and elite agility, he could be able to overcome a lack of size to become a true weapon at the next level. His 4.38-second 40-yard dash was the 15th-fastest time recorded in 2025.
There’s little indication of what Blue can do at the professional level, as he hasn’t yet made his preseason debut after suffering a bruised foot in practice two weeks ago. He’s expected to play in tomorrow night’s preseason finale against the Atlanta Falcons, and the team has reportedly been impressed by his showing in practice, according to The Athletic Cowboys beat writer Jon Machota. He has some experience playing in a pro-style offense with the Longhorns, playing with a quarterback in Quinn Ewers, who, like Prescott, is a more traditional pass-first signal-caller.
Blue is a sleeper in fantasy who’s currently being drafted 51st among running backs — at the very end of the draft in 12-team leagues. Expectations should be low, but with such a low ADP, he’s worth a flyer, especially given Sanders’ age and Williams’ recent track record.
The Verdict:
Last season, Dallas targeted a running back with just 14% of its passes, one of the lowest rates in football, and Cowboys backs amassed the ninth-fewest rushing attempts, sixth-fewest rushing yards, and fewest rushing scores of any team. This mediocre production came despite Dallas starting Cooper Rush — hardly an elite passer — for most of the season. Though firing Mike McCarthy, the architect of its stagnant offense, could help, the Cowboys simply promoted offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, so it’s unclear if the run will be a much bigger part of the game plan this season. Dallas has thrown the ball on more than half of its plays over its first two preseason games.
Of the three backs, it’s hard to be impressed with what either Williams or Sanders has to offer. Williams has declined every season of his career, and for an undersized back who suffered a major knee injury four weeks into his second season, that’s not ideal. Sanders, meanwhile, is aging, and while his ceiling is higher than Williams’, his career season came when he played in Philadelphia’s run-friendly offense. Blue is the only running back on the Cowboys roster who might become a fantasy asset, but trusting a fifth-round rookie to be anything more than a late-round flyer would be foolhardy either way. I’d avoid Dallas’ running back room entirely, just like Jerry Jones evidently did this summer.
