The Cowboys came up with their third straight must-win victory on Thanksgiving against the Chiefs to pull themselves to 6-5-1 and keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Things don’t necessarily get easier, as the Lions loom in another Thursday night matchup this week.
The Cowboys had another good game running the football, totaling 137 yards and moving their season total to 1,462 yards, which is 13th in the NFL. The bulk of those, though, did come on one play, a 43-yard touchdown run for Malik Davis, the on-again, off-again undrafted veteran who has spent three years bouncing between the team’s roster and the practice squad.
In doing so, Davis firmed up a role as the Cowboys top backup to Javonte Williams, and that, combined with a weekend transaction, is likely trouble for the future of rookie Jaydon Blue, the team’s fifth-round pick from Texas this year.
Cowboys Add Another RB to Practice Squad
Blue had a brief crack at earning a spot in the running-back pecking order, playing four games in October and going for 65 yards on 22 carries. The Cowboys have, by coach Brian Schottenheimer’s own admission, been less than impressed with Blue’s practice habits and his work with special teams, while Davis has been steadier. Thus, the Cowboys have been giving Davis run, and not Blue.
GettyCowboys RB Israel Abanikanda
The Cowboys this weekend added another running back to the mix, Israel Abanikanda, a former fifth-rounder of the New York Jets in 2023. He has bounced through stints with the 49ers and, most recently, the Packers, but has not been able to crack through with NFL chances since he had 22 attempts for 70 yards in his first season.
Abanikanda was signed to the practice squad.
Jaydon Blue’s Cowboys Spot in Jeopardy?
Of course, if the Cowboys were happy with Blue, they probably would not have signed Abanikanda–there are other spots on the roster that could use added depth, no doubt. But, as the Cowboys fan site Inside the Star pointed out, at the very least, Blue now has competition just to stay on the roster.
The site noted: “One has to wonder if the addition of Abanikanda shifts the competitive landscape. Blue is no longer the lone developmental back on the roster. For the first time this season, he has another running back on the roster with the same type of skills to push him for the future RB3 or RB4 role.”
More Expected From Jaydon Blue
It could be that the Cowboys adding another running back amounts only to lighting more of a fire under Blue, a player the team was excited about in training camp. He was not the featured back while with the Longhorns, but he was an effective change-of-pace and speed guy, and was the second-fastest running back –at 4.38 in the 40-yard dash–in this year’s draft.
Last month, Schottenheimer explained that Davis’s ability to learn and execute in special teams had caused Blue to be demoted.
“It’s really everything,” Schottenheimer said. “When you get to sometimes that second and third back and, you know, we’re carrying a little heavy at some other positions, whether it’s linebacker or corners or defensive linemen, you’re a little bit short in some areas. But it’s really both phases, it’s offense and special teams. …
“He and Jaydon will continue to compete. But right now, when you’re looking at the two, that’s where Jaydon has to understand, until you’re the guy, which at some point hopefully he is ‘The Guy,’ you’ve gotta be able to impact the game other ways. I think he understands that.”
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