The Dallas Cowboys find themselves in the unenviable position of being saddled with Super Bowl expectations via their owner and fans, yet they're only the third best team in a division with the two NFC Championship Game participants from the 2024 season. A tricky salary cap situation limits Dallas' ability to greatly improve their roster this spring, and new head coach Brian Schottenheimer hasn't inspired much confidence in a fanbase that has traded in the popular ‘How 'bout them Cowboys!' moniker for a much less positive mantra that sounds something like, ‘What the hell is up with these Cowboys?'
Even with an MVP runner-up quarterback (Dak Prescott), one of the league's best wide receivers (CeeDee Lamb) and arguably the game's best edge rusher (Micah Parsons), the Cowboys are a team in desperate need of a shot in the arm, and in the NFL Draft, no player would provider a more immediate and exciting boost than Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. That's why ESPN's Field Yates notes that if Jeanty is available when the Cowboys are on the clock with the 12th pick, he could very well be their guy.
“The Cowboys must address the offensive line in this draft, and they would also be a prime candidate to pick Jeanty if he slides to No. 12 — even after agreeing to a deal with Javonte Williams.”
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The big question here is not whether the Cowboys whether intend on giving Williams a full helping of their carries… they won't, or at the very least, they shouldn't. The question is whether Ashton Jeanty will slide to them or not.
Given how the first week and a half of March has gone, it seems less likely now that the Heisman Trophy runner-up will be available when it's the Cowboys time to make a selection than it did a week ago. Las Vegas trading for quarterback Geno Smith and Chicago doing so much to overhaul their offensive and defensive lines makes both the Raiders and the Bears real threats to select Jeanty.
If the Cowboys were to select Ashton Jeanty — or if Jeanty were gone and Dallas were to pivot to North Carolina's Omarion Hampton — then it would be the fifth time in the last 50 years that the Cowboys used a 1st Round draft pick on a running back, joining Tony Dorsett (2nd overall in the 1977 NFL Draft), Ezekiel Elliott (4th in 2016), Emmitt Smith (17th in 1990), and Felix Jones (22nd in 2008).
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">Sonny Giuliano is an experienced sports writer for ClutchPoints who has been covering the NFL, NCAA Football, NBA, and NCAA Basketball for well over a decade. Sonny received his degree from Florida Gulf Coast University.