The Dallas Cowboys overhauled their running back room this offseason, bringing in veterans and rookies to compete for the starting job.
One addition who is a sneaky candidate to be the starter in Dallas is former Penn State and Philadelphia Eagles star running back Miles Sanders.
The veteran received only 55 carries with the Carolina Panthers last year while battling injuries, leaving some to believe that former Broncos running back Javonte Williams could be in line to start in Dallas. But Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer is warning to not sleep on Miles Sanders.
“l don’t know why anyone would be surprised by Miles’ ability,” Schottenheimer said, according to Clarence Hill. “Having been in the division and playing against Miles when he was in Philadelphia, you talk about a guy that’s a home run threat, a guy that’s got incredible ability to hurt you running, catching out of the backfield, all that stuff. Very smart, very bright."
Sanders spent four seasons with the Eagles and put up impressive numbers from 2019-2022, including rushing for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns his final season with the Eagles.
He then signed a four-year deal with the Panthers ahead of the 2023 season.
Sanders was cut by Carolina only two years into that deal, but Schottenheimer still clearly believes he can play.
As for Javonte Williams, he rushed for 513 yards and four touchdowns last season in Denver while averaging 3.7 yards per carry.
In addition to the veterans Williams and Sanders, rookies Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah are also competing for playing time.
Blue was drafted in the fifth round of this year’s draft out of Texas, while Mafah is a seventh-round pick out of Clemson.
Schottenheimer said recently that it’s way too early to tell how the competition might play out and if Dallas will use a running back-by-committee approach.
“We want these guys to compete,” he said. “The thing we know about Javonte and Miles – they’ve been there, they’ve done that. They’ve both had very successful seasons. They have a little bit of a head start because they’ve been here since the start of Phase 1, so they’re a little bit ahead of Phil and Jaydon.
“But when you look at what you see from Jaydon and you see from Phil, you see it’s going to be a really fun offseason, a fun training camp.”
Schottenheimer added that we will know a lot more about where things stand with the running back competition after everyone puts on pads during training camp.
“You’re not going to find out much about running backs watching them compete in shorts,” he said. “It’s not how the game is played. So we won’t really know.”