Give Sean credit — he made an intriguing argument as to why the Cowboys should finally give Christine Michael the chance to run behind the best line in football. And now that Joe Randle, aka Shit for Brains, has been ruled out of Sunday’s game, now is not the time to turn over the reigns to an unproven back.
The Cowboys Need To Stay With Darren McFadden!
Michael’s got talent, but I’m starting to get the feeling that something just isn’t clicking. Whether he’s not picking up the playbook or something else — the stars have yet to align for Michael.
We heard throughout the bye week about how the Cowboys coaching staff wanted to get him more involved in the offense. And when Randle went down with an oblique strain against the Giants last Sunday, it was the perfect opportunity to get Michael more involved. The Cowboys, however, turned to Darren McFadden. Who just happened to carry the ball 29 times for 152 yards and a touchdown. Pretty good day I’d say.
Cowboys OC Scott Linehan says with how OL blocked and Darren McFadden ran vs #Giants, it felt like 2014 with DeMarco Murray.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) October 29, 2015
McFadden is by far the most proven and capable running back presently on the Cowboys roster. He finally showed the hunger and want-to that we’ve been waiting to see against the Giants. It’s his job to lose and he knows it.
While a lot has been said recently about the Cowboys running game so far, truth be told, it’s not as bad as it may appear. They still average 4.5 yards per attempt — good for 7th in the NFL — and the bulk the work has come from McFadden–4.3ypa and Randle–4.1.
We have only seen a small sample size of Michael, and like I mentioned above, he’s got talent, but something is missing. While Michael will probably see more carries until the Randle matter settles itself, he isn’t ready to be the Cowboys starter.
It very well could turn out that, in fact, anyone can run behind the Cowboys offensive line. But for now, the Cowboy have seen what McFadden can accomplish as the go-to guy in the backfield. He may not be the Grand Poobah of running backs and there are always the injury concerns, but for the time being, the Cowboys need to stay with Darren McFadden as their starting running back.
