We all love fairytale stories, but in reality, they don't always end up the way we want, and for Dallas Cowboys running back Deuce Vaughn, that reality is staring him in the face.
Having been a fan favorite since being drafted in 2023 with his father, Chris, a scout for the Cowboys, delivering that emotionally charged phone call to let his son know he had been drafted, it has been two years of tough sledding for Deuce.
And after the NFL Draft, it's gotten that much tougher with Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah both being selected. Plus, Brian Schottenheimer envisions them as potential starters.
But now, as attention turns to the offseason programs, Dallas has trimmed its roster to 90, and running back Malik Davis was one of the four players the franchise waived.
One less player Deuce has to usurp.
Now, Vaughn still has a huge hill to climb with Miles Sanders, Javonte Williams, Blue, Mafah, and even fullback Hunter Luepke ahead of him.
But the path forward is becoming clear for Deuce.
However, that path isn't an easy one, and is still likely to end in a way fans don't want it to. Our own Mike Fisher, in breaking down his projection for the Cowboys' 53-man roster, knows what fate might be awaiting Vaughn.
"You already know about Deuce, you know what's going to happen here," Fish said on The Fish Report. "There's nothing that he does that is anywhere close to anything that these other guys do."
And Fish is right.
Deuce hasn't managed to set himself apart from the other backs on the roster since arriving at The Star, let alone the new ones coming in, and who knows, maybe with Conor Riley, his former coach at Kansas State, might help tilt the scales in Deuce's favor.
But as things stand, while Vaughn managed to avoid being waived, unless something drastic happens, as Fish stated, unfortunately, when it comes to Deuce and trimming this roster in the coming months, "we know what's going to happen here."
