The Dallas Cowboys found something safe with free agent Javonte Williams. The veteran showed up last year and delivered on all his upside attributes, from his physical running style to his reliability in pass protection. He was so dependable that it almost went unnoticed that the team didn’t have much of a backup running back last year.
The team re-upped on him this offseason, locking him down for the next three years, meaning the only thing left to be answered is who will be backing him up? The Cowboys are hoping that at least one of their second-year backs, Jaydon Blue or Phil Mafah, will emerge as a formidable option in the backfield. Blue brings the juice with his home run speed while Mafah is a power back that will plow through defenders. That seems like the plan anyway, but things don’t always go according to plan.
Blue has shown some nice progress in camp. He’s making better decisions, and instead of just popping outside every chance he gets, he’s showing more discipline and hitting the inside gaps more regularly. He’s running hard, and when he finds space, he’s making explosive plays in practice. In practice.
While that’s the good stuff, Blue has also made some mistakes. He’s put the ball on the ground multiple times, displaying poor ball security, and nothing will get you off the field quicker than turning over the ball. And his explosiveness in practice isn’t translating to live action as he struggled to find creases in Saturday’s preseason game against Seattle. He hit the hole hard, but he just drove himself into a wall, sometimes created by his own blockers. Blue just hasn’t been able to be that guy in space because he hasn’t been able to get into space.
And then there’s Mafah. Like his teammate, he’s also looked good in camp. He’s been his usual bruising self, showing a lot of improvement in pass protection by standing firm and picking up blitzes. He’s catching balls out of the backfield, and keeps the ball well protected.
Those things have looked nice in practice, but like Blue, he’s also struggled to find his footing in live action. If things are congested, he can’t cut his way out of it and will get stuck in the backfield. Against the Seahawks, Mafah was met early in the backfield and could never gain any traction. And while he offers better ball security, he’s falling victim to another one of his deficiencies. His durability. He suffered a chest injury early in the second half and was ruled out the rest of the game.
Despite impressing in practice, these young backs didn’t do much to make the team feel like they can be the RB2 behind Williams. But one running back did. The forgotten one. Malik Davis.
It’s crazy because every year, Davis shows up in Dallas, does well, but he’s always passed up for a back who offers much more upside, even if they’re not outperforming him in camp. He’s been cut multiple times, and many expect it to happen once again.
Not so fast.
When Davis entered the game on Saturday, the running game immediately got better. He didn’t break off any explosive runs or power through defenders, but instead, he did what he does best. He read his blocks, planted his foot in the turf, and took off. That’s it. There’s not much else to it. Just that little shuffle in his feet while retaining his speed, allowing him to burst through a small crease, is all he needed to turn a bad run into an efficient one. Davis was the team’s leading rusher on Saturday, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
Some may have forgotten that Davis was the team’s second-leading rusher last year behind Williams. Like Williams, he averaged an efficient 4.8 yards per carry as compared to 3.4 ypc from Blue and 3.6 ypc from Mafah. Signs are hinting that Davis once again becomes a fail-safe option for the Cowboys should it come to that. And despite many hoping that one of last year’s rookies would impress, that offers no guarantees. It’s possible that one, maybe both, do not improve enough to surprise the high-floor, but low-upside that Davis currently offers.
This isn’t what fans want. Blue is supposed to be the guy who takes the top off the defense. Mafah is supposed to be the punisher. And while Davis doesn’t have those appealing traits to be a star, he has shown that he has the mental capacity and the physical ability to be an extension of an efficient running game Williams offers. There’s still time, and the Cowboys will still try to get one of these rookies to stick, but if it doesn’t happen, they know that they can once again rely on Davis to step in and get the job done.