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Recent pre-draft visitors show Cowboys' savvy at RB
February, 5, 2015
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys' running back picture got a little murkier Wednesday with the news of Joseph Randle's arrest.
DeMarco Murray is set to become a free agent and Randle would be the Cowboys' leading returning rusher with 343 yards. Lance Dunbar is set to be a restricted free agent. The Cowboys kept Ryan Williams, who spent 2014 on the practice squad, with a two-year deal.
If Murray becomes too expensive, there could be other runners in free agency who make sense, like Mark Ingram, who was coached by the Cowboys' staff at the Pro Bowl. The Cowboys liked him a ton coming into the 2011 draft but he has had a spotty track record.
The draft figures to have plenty of options, especially early on with Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley.
Even if Murray doesn't re-sign and Randle is released, the Cowboys still need to make defense their top priority in the offseason.
They've shown they can find running backs in the middle and late rounds. Murray was a third-round pick. Randle was a fifth rounder. Heck, Dunbar wasn't even drafted. I wouldn't be so sure to pencil in Williams as a true contributor just yet. He has 58 carries for 164 yards in five games in his career.
But in reviewing the running backs the Cowboys have brought to Valley Ranch for pre-draft visits the last three years, they certainly know what a running back looks like.
Murray and Stevan Ridley visited in 2011. Doug Martin visited in 2012. In 2013, the Cowboys had Giovani Bernard, Knile Davis, Randle and Le'Veon Bell in for visits.
Bell finished second to Murray in rushing yards in 2014 with 1,361 for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Martin ran for 1,454 yards as a rookie for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ridley had 1,263 yards in his second season for the New England Patriots. Bernard has been a versatile weapon for the Cincinnati Bengal. Davis has been a valuable backup behind Jamaal Charles with the Kansas City Chiefs.
If the Cowboys decide Murray's price is too steep, do you have faith they can find a running back in the draft?
February, 5, 2015
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys' running back picture got a little murkier Wednesday with the news of Joseph Randle's arrest.
DeMarco Murray is set to become a free agent and Randle would be the Cowboys' leading returning rusher with 343 yards. Lance Dunbar is set to be a restricted free agent. The Cowboys kept Ryan Williams, who spent 2014 on the practice squad, with a two-year deal.
If Murray becomes too expensive, there could be other runners in free agency who make sense, like Mark Ingram, who was coached by the Cowboys' staff at the Pro Bowl. The Cowboys liked him a ton coming into the 2011 draft but he has had a spotty track record.
The draft figures to have plenty of options, especially early on with Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley.
Even if Murray doesn't re-sign and Randle is released, the Cowboys still need to make defense their top priority in the offseason.
They've shown they can find running backs in the middle and late rounds. Murray was a third-round pick. Randle was a fifth rounder. Heck, Dunbar wasn't even drafted. I wouldn't be so sure to pencil in Williams as a true contributor just yet. He has 58 carries for 164 yards in five games in his career.
But in reviewing the running backs the Cowboys have brought to Valley Ranch for pre-draft visits the last three years, they certainly know what a running back looks like.
Murray and Stevan Ridley visited in 2011. Doug Martin visited in 2012. In 2013, the Cowboys had Giovani Bernard, Knile Davis, Randle and Le'Veon Bell in for visits.
Bell finished second to Murray in rushing yards in 2014 with 1,361 for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Martin ran for 1,454 yards as a rookie for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ridley had 1,263 yards in his second season for the New England Patriots. Bernard has been a versatile weapon for the Cincinnati Bengal. Davis has been a valuable backup behind Jamaal Charles with the Kansas City Chiefs.
If the Cowboys decide Murray's price is too steep, do you have faith they can find a running back in the draft?
