No NFL team has been worse at running the ball this season than the Dallas Cowboys. No player has been better at running in college football than Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty just so happened to have played high school football at Lone Star High School in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas and Arlington.
“Dallas Cowboys, I’m not saying they’re not a good fit,” Jeanty said on a livestream. “I’m not saying that at all. And I’m from Frisco, played in their practice stadium, I would be a hometown hero if I went there.”
The Boise State running back was asked a multitude of questions by fans on his livestream, such as who he’d like to play for in the NFL. He mentioned the Chicago Bears and it being “too cold” and also mentioned being a “Super Bowl contender every year” with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Dallas Cowboys were the third and final team he mentioned in the video clip.
The fit between Jeanty and Dallas could be perfect for next season’s NFL Draft. The Cowboys’ 77.2 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry are the lowest in the NFL, and they’re also tied for last with two rushing touchdowns. Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott aren’t starting-caliber running backs, and it’s affected the Cowboys’ offense. They average 21 points a game (20th in NFL), a massive drop from last season’s 29.9.
Drafting Jeanty would immediately help those run game issues. He leads the nation in rushing yards (1,248), touchdowns (17) and yards per carry (9.9). The Heisman frontrunner has rushed for at least 127 yards in every game, and that season-low came on 11 carries in a blowout win over Portland State. He’s an explosive runner that possesses power at 5-foot-9, 215-pounds. He also has 66 receptions for six touchdowns in his three seasons as Boise State.
ESPN’s latest mock draft had Dallas drafting Jeanty 15th overall. It’s been almost a decade since the Cowboys took Ezekiel Elliott fourth overall, so they’re not afraid of using first-round picks for a position that has been drastically devalued. Offensive line struggles have been an important piece of why Dallas is struggling on the ground, and it wouldn’t be shocking if the Cowboys drafted a lineman in the first round for a second straight year.
Jeanty is on pace for yard and touchdown marks that no college running back has accomplished since Barry Sanders in the late 1980s. The running back position is viewed as accessory in the current NFL, but Jeanty clearly has the skillset to elevate — and at times carry — an offense.
