The Dallas Cowboys are coming off of their first loss in over 90 days, but that doesn’t mean they have time to sulk. Jason Garrett and his staff are preparing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and of course the playoffs, and that demands looking ahead.
Three weeks ago the Cowboys started a three-week clock when they removed Darren McFadden and Jaylon Smith from the NFI list. Tuesday was the day when the clock struck zero, and a move was in fact made. The Dallas Cowboys have released running back Darius Jackson to make room for Darren McFadden, who they are promoting to the 53-man roster.
Cowboys have moved Darren McFadden to their 53-man roster. Darius Jackson is the cut.
— David Helman (@davidhelman_) December 13, 2016
Jerry Jones said earlier this week that the Cowboys would be promoting McFadden, and as soon as that news dropped many members of Cowboys Nation began speculating who would be the odd man out in order for room to be made. Unfortunately for him, Darius Jackson is that odd man.
The Cowboys still carry quite an arsenal of depth when it comes to their number one objective – running the ball. They boast the NFL’s leading rusher in Ezekiel Elliott, veteran Alfred Morris, the fun toy that is Lance Dunbar, and now Darren McFadden (who finished 4th in the NFL in rushing in 2015 in his first year with Dallas).
It’ll be interesting to see how the Cowboys handle this depth on Sundays when it comes to the gameday 46-man actives and inactives. Many believe that Darren McFadden is a more serviceable primary backup to Zeke, but Alfred Morris has had some solid moments when given opportunities this season.
Darius Jackson, should he go unclaimed, is eligible for the Cowboys practice squad. Dallas took Jackson in the sixth round of April’s draft, and they were obviously concerned about potentially losing him all season as they kept him on their 53. It appears they are now willing to take that gamble, and hopefully it all works out for the best. The only two running backs that the Cowboys have under contract beyond 2016 are Zeke and Morris.
What do you think of the latest roster move by the Dallas Cowboys? Let us know! Comment below, Email me at RJ.Ochoa@SlantSports.com, or Tweet to me at @RJOchoa!
Obviously they are in a better position to know than we are but I was hoping Dunbar would be the odd man out. He hasn’t really done anything for us this season and remains an injury liability. I was hoping to see a bit of Jackson in action at some point. Hopefully he will end up on the PS.
I agree I was been hoping for Dunbar to get released and was really wanting Jackson to get some playing time but now we gotta hope no other team picks him up and we can get him to the PS. I feel Dunbar is useless since he can only handle 3 or 4 touches before he gets injured so maybe they should have let him touch the ball a couple more times last week and he would be on IR now and we could have kept Jackson
They may be holding on to Dunbar for the next time Whitehead is late to meetings… ;^)
A check of Google News and Twitter right now shows nothing about another team picking up Jackson. As a rookie project RB, I doubt there is enough track record for a team to want him this late in the year, unless they are very thin and just need bodies.
If the Cowboys wrap up games & HFA, Elliott is almost certainly going to get rest before the playoffs. We might actually get a duel between Morris & McFadden, with both getting a lot of
carries the next few weeks. Been saying all year I’d like to see Elliott punish defenses for 3 quarters and then bring McFadden in fresh with the speed he has.
I think you will also see a move to get them involved more in the passing game. Garrett may have been holding that card anyway for the playoffs. But if a defense is getting the WR’s and TE’s covered, it’s time to make them deal with Elliott & McF in the open field.