If you can believe it, the Dallas Cowboys somehow found a featured back in the offseason. Through all of the criticism and smack talk, free agent Javonte Williams has emerged as a legitimate RB1 option through the first 2 games.
After that, it’s pretty dicey.
With the Cowboys looking more and more like a team who could earn a postseason berth — almost exclusively because of their offense — Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has a trade pitch that could bring them a viable backup for Williams in Cleveland Browns running back Jerome Ford.
To get Ford, Knox thinks the Cowboys would have to give up a conditional seventh round pick.
“Ford seems to be falling out of favor in Kevin Stefanski’s offense,” Knox wrote on September 17. “He saw just seven touches in Week 1 and was mostly in a receiving-back role in Week 2 — he did have five catches. With Ford set to be a free agent in 2026, the Browns may take what they can get for him now. That may not be a lot, but Ford has breakaway speed and has topped 500 rushing yards in each of the past two seasons.”
Ford Could Bring Versatile Skill Set To Dallas
Ford, 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, was a backup for his first 3 college seasons at Alabama and Cincinnati. When he got his shot as a starter in 2021, he had a breakout season with 1,319 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns in 13 games as the Bearcats became the first non-Power Five team to make the College Football Playoff.
The Browns selected Ford in the fifth round (No. 156 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft. In his one season as ann NFL featured back in 2023 he put up 1,132 yards of total offense and 9 touchdowns — a season in which Cleveland actually made the playoffs.
Brown began 2024 as the starter for the Browns but was placed back into his backup role when injured started Nick Chubb returned at midseason — Brown still rushed for over 500 yards and finished the season with 1,178 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns in 14 games.
The writing was on the wall for Brown this offseason as the Browns started to gear up for what looks like a complete rebuild — that included drafting 2 running backs in 2025 with second round pick Quinshon Judkins and fifth round pick Dylan Sampson.
Cowboys Not Getting Anything From Backup RBs
The storylines on the Cowboys running backs in the preseason seemed mostly centered around them being either the NFL’s worst position group or how rookie Jaydon Blue was going to become the starter.
Neither one of those things have played out over the first 2 games. Blue has yet to play in a game because of an ankle injury in the preseason.
Williams, on the other hand, has been a pleasant surprise in the backfield. He has 3 rushing touchdowns through the first 2 games — the Cowboys only had 5 rushing touchdowns as a team in 2024 — and had a breakout game in a 40-37 win over the New York Giants in Week 2 with 18 carries for 97 yards and 1 touchdown.
The big knock on Williams after spending his first 4 seasons with the Denver Broncos was his yards per carry — which seemed to always hover right under 4.0 yards.
Through his first 2 games with the Cowboys, Williams is averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
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