Archer: Five Wonders - Darren McFadden might be left without a role

Cotton

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Five Wonders: Darren McFadden might be left without a role

Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

FRISCO, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys are five games into their season, and with a 4-1 record, they have many people wondering if they will be a playoff team in 2016.

Here are five more wonders in this week’s Five Wonders:

Darren McFadden has become something of the forgotten man. A year ago, he finished fourth in the NFL in rushing with 1,089 yards and he did it in basically 11 games. He had an extremely impressive season on an offense that could not do much of anything in the passing game. McFadden is on the non-football injury list as he continues to rehab from a broken right elbow suffered in the offseason. I wonder what the Cowboys do with him when he is eligible to return, starting with the bye week. The Cowboys have three weeks from Oct. 23 to activate him and then another three weeks to decide whether to add him to the 53-man roster. With how well Ezekiel Elliott is playing and the way Alfred Morris fits the system, is there a place for McFadden? Lance Dunbar’s knee soreness could open up a spot for him as a third-down back, but he could be a man without a country. The trade deadline is Nov. 1. Could McFadden net a draft pick in return from a team needing a quality running back?

I wonder how good this Cowboys’ rookie class will be. We have seen the impact Dak Prescott and Elliott are having. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins (third round) and cornerback Anthony Brown (sixth round) are also making big contributions. Four rookies playing major snaps is not always a good thing, but the Cowboys are not missing a beat. The benefit will be down the road if they all continue to develop. This does not include second-rounder Jaylon Smith, who is not expected to play this season because of a knee injury. If he can return to the form he had at Notre Dame, this will be the Cowboys’ best draft class since 2005 when they selected DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Kevin Burnett, Marion Barber, Chris Canty and Jay Ratliff.

With the Cowboys off to a good start, I wonder if they will be flexed into a sixth prime-time game. Four of their final 10 games are on NBC, NFL Network or ESPN, so it will be a heavy load of the Cowboys in the second half of the season. With the NFL ratings down, could the Cowboys come to the rescue after the presidential election? Are the Cowboys more powerful than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? Of the games not already scheduled for primetime, the Nov. 13 game at the Pittsburgh Steelers and the season finale at the Philadelphia Eagles are the most viable options, but Fox and CBS would fight madly to keep them. The Cowboys' other games are against the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Will NBC hope for another winner-take-all in Week 17 between the Cowboys and Eagles? That would be a ratings draw for sure.

I’m not one to get caught up in who a team beats. A win is a win is a win is a win. As Jason Garrett says, it’s hard to win games in the NFL. So don’t get caught up in the fact that the Cowboys’ four wins have come against teams a combined 7-13. Starting with Sunday’s game at the Green Bay Packers, I wonder what we’ll be saying about the Cowboys when Thanksgiving rolls around. The Cowboys’ next six opponents are a combined 16-12 and five of those losses belong to the winless Cleveland Browns. Heck, if we want to carry it out to after Thanksgiving it is 21-12 with a trip to Minnesota on Dec. 1. The Cowboys start has been good, but they are hitting the difficult part of the schedule.

I wonder if we all owe J.J. Wilcox an apology. On more than one occasion, I advocated for his release in the offseason and in training camp, but he has made some key plays in the first five weeks of the season. The Cowboys are using Wilcox in their dime defense and are rotating him with Barry Church and Byron Jones. But for a mini-wonder inside I wonder, I wonder if the limited playing time has helped Wilcox not be exposed. He is fearless as a tackler and will hit anything. He had a big pass breakup against San Francisco too. I still don’t think the Cowboys look to re-sign him to any kind of starting-type deal for 2017, but he deserves kudos for how he's played so far.
 

Texas Ace

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Might?

With Alfred Morris here, we have absolutely no use for him.

If we can get a cheeseburger in return, we should trade him for it.
 

L.T. Fan

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Might?

With Alfred Morris here, we have absolutely no use for him.

If we can get a cheeseburger in return, we should trade him for it.
I keep him and send Dunbar packing.
 

22cowboysfan22

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Of course McFadden shouldn't have a role. What is he going to give us that we're not getting now from Zeke and Morris? Just trade DMac once he's healthy if we can get anything for him. Should be able to at least get some sort of conditional draft pick given some of the RB injuries around the league.
 

Texas Ace

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Of course McFadden shouldn't have a role. What is he going to give us that we're not getting now from Zeke and Morris? Just trade DMac once he's healthy if we can get anything for him. Should be able to at least get some sort of conditional draft pick given some of the RB injuries around the league.
The Vikings might give up a conditional 6th or 7th for him.

Trade him away.
 

shane

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I wouldn't mind trading Morris for a pick to some desperate team if McFadden is good to go when he comes back.
 

Texas Ace

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I wouldn't mind trading Morris for a pick to some desperate team if McFadden is good to go when he comes back.
What?

Hell no. Morris is an NFL starting RB, not some brittle, everything-needs-to-be-perfect-in-order-to-succeed RB.

If Zeke got hurt, I don't want to rely on McFadden to get the job done. Morris is the guy and he needs to stay right where he is.
 

Cotton

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I try to send them both and keep the other rookie
Yep, Darius Jackson can do just about anything Dunbar can do. Oh, and maybe he won't get hurt all the damn time, too.
 

NoDak

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I wouldn't mind trading Morris for a pick to some desperate team if McFadden is good to go when he comes back.
Fuck that noise. You'll never get a pick high enough that equals the value he gives us right now.
 

boozeman

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Fuck that noise. You'll never get a pick high enough that equals the value he gives us right now.
Yeah, trading is a nice idea.

But be honest, no team is going to trade anything other than a low round pick. I as soon keep the player even if it is for like six decent carries a game.
 

NoDak

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Yeah, trading is a nice idea.

But be honest, no team is going to trade anything other than a low round pick. I as soon keep the player even if it is for like six decent carries a game.
Right. Ideally, he'll keep on getting his 6 to 10 carries a game. But if God forbid, something were to happen to Zeke, that's when we'd see his true value to this team.
 

ravidubey

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We would look like total idiots for trading away McFadden if Zeke cracks his tibia a week later.

All the people talking about trading away Leary look like fools now.

We have a shot at the playoffs, no need to get cute.
 

NoDak

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We would look like total idiots for trading away McFadden if Zeke cracks his tibia a week later.

All the people talking about trading away Leary look like fools now.

We have a shot at the playoffs, no need to get cute.
Huh? As of right now, McFadden would be at best 3rd string. Trying to compare his situation to Leary is quite a reach. Leary is a borderline probowl player that would be starting for pretty much any other team not named Dallas. And there's a valid argument to be made that he should be starting over Collins anyway. You'd have to be an idiot to make a similar argument for McFadden.

If something were to happen to Zeke, Morris becomes the starter and Jackson can back him up. With Dunbar... Doing whatever the hell it is we think he does.

If we can get anything for McFadden, we'd be stupid not to.
 

townsend

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McFadden and Morris would be necessary to replace the production of Zeke. Since Morris isn't great at pass blocking or receiving.
 

ravidubey

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If something were to happen to Zeke, Morris becomes the starter and Jackson can back him up. With Dunbar... Doing whatever the hell it is we think he does.
I don't trust that combination. Jackson is a decent prospect, but McFadden proved he can be effective in a manner IMO that complements Morris' style. I expect nothing serious from Dunbar, but McFadden produced quite a bit last year considering with Romo gone he was essentially the only viable offensive threat.
 
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