Just like that, Dalvin Cook is a Cowboys running back, and the question probably should be: What took so long? Well, the actual answer to that is that the team needed to work out CeeDee Lamb’s contract in order to carve out some cap room for Cook, but still, the Cowboys have been in need of a jolt in the running back room for five months now. Getting Cook to The Star is useful but getting him in with just 10 days until the season opener carries some risk.
After all this time spent trying to convince fans, and perhaps themselves, that the team had assembled an NFL-worthy “committee” at running back, signing Cook comes as an admission that the team just did not have enough at the spot.
Cook is just one year removed from a run of four seasons in which he topped 1,100 yards rushing with the Vikings. He is a four-time Pro Bowler who tallied 43 touchdowns in those four seasons. He left the Vikings for the Jets last year, but never carved out a role (67 carries, 214 yards) in New York behind starter Breece Hall, and wound up out of the rotation altogether, eventually being released and signed by the Ravens.
But team owner and GM Jerry Jones says there is a lot to feel good about with Cook.
Dalvin Cook ‘Could Really Help Us Out’: Jerry Jones
Speaking to the media after the signing, Jones noted that while Cook will begin his Cowboys tenure on the practice squad, that will soon change. He had a strong message on what he expects from Cook.
“Dalvin is someone we all have an appreciation for his career,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday, via the Associated Press. “He gives us a chance to get in here and run the system. He’s initially on the practice squad, gives him a chance to get in here and learn the system.
“We had hoped that as time went along in this offseason, we would have an opportunity to maybe look at a player of his stature if the right circumstances came along. They came along. We’re appreciative of it. We had a workout for him. He’s in good shape. He’ll get a lot more work. He will learn the system as he goes and he could really help us out this year.”
Cowboys Have NFL-Worst Running Game
After Tuesday’s 53-man roster cutdown day, the Cowboys were left with Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn on the roster as the three running backs, which was never really going to be enough in terms of depth and talent.
The Cowboys cut veteran Royce Freeman and also let go of Malik Davis despite a good training camp. The team brough back Davis, though, as part of the practice squad.
At the analysis site Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys are ranked as having the worst running back crew in the NFL, and it probably isn’t even close. Elliott had a grade of 67.6 last season, spent with the Patriots before coming back to the Cowboys. That ranked 40th out of 59 running backs. Dowdle was at 66.6, which was 43rd.
Vaughn did not appear in enough plays to rank among the top backs, but his overall grade was a paltry 46.4 in 61 offensive snaps. Cook, for what it’s worth, was not much better, grading out at 53.8.
