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Running back Malik Davis #34 of the Dallas Cowboys <\/p>\n
As the NFL<\/a> offseason lurches forward through the spring and early summer, when the news slows a bit, when the schedule has been released, when OTAs have yet to start and when there do not seem to be any free-agent additions forthcoming, inevitably, attention turns toward the roster. No roster in the league is perfect\u2013that\u2019s why there\u2019s a salary cap and contract rules\u2013which means that no matter how good a team is, you\u2019re always able to find an area of concern, usually three or four. That\u2019s the case for the Cowboys<\/a>, who probably have five worrisome areas.<\/p>\n In no particular order, those would be edge rusher, middle linebacker and cornerback (health is a big factor there) on the defense, with left tackle the big issue on the offense. And a fifth item for that list: running back, where Javonte Williams is the clear No. 1, but needs a No. 2 who can A) relieve some of the workload from him and, B) provide a change of pace to Williams\u2019 bruising style.<\/p>\n Malik Davis Cowboys\u2019 RB2 Leader<\/p>\n For now, the RB2 is Malik Davis<\/a>, the 27-year-old undrafted free agent the Cowboys signed in 2022. He went for 250 yards on 52 carries in 10 games last season, and is reliable in the role, if unspectacular. And that might be part of the issue with Davis\u2013he is not a sharp contrast to Williams, not the \u201clightning\u201d to Williams\u2019 \u201cthunder<\/a>\u201d the way the team would hope.<\/p>\n He did go for 103 yards on 20 carries in Week 17 against a mostly uninterested Washington team. There is some sense that Davis could pick up the slack if Williams\u2013who went for 1,201 yards on 252 carries, both career highs, last season\u2013 is injured at all in 2026. As a fill-in for Williams Davis makes some sense, but not so much as a change-of-pace.<\/p>\n Jaydon Blue a Wildcard<\/p>\n That makes the Cowboys RB2 race worth watching here in the offseason. Yes, Davis is the incumbent and leader, but second-year backs Jaydon Blue<\/a> and Phil Mafah<\/a> figure into the mix, too. Both are expected to be step-for-step with Davis for the job behind Williams.<\/p>\n That\u2019s how Forth Worth Star-Telegram beat writer Nick Harris sees it.<\/p>\n As he wrote in a mailbag this week<\/a>: \u201cI would give the slight edge to Malik Davis right now just based off last year\u2019s late-season production. However, there is confidence in second-year backs Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah to put up a legitimate fight for that role. I would assume the desire is that Blue becomes that guy, just because he brings a different speed and pass-catching element that the others in the room don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Cowboys Will Take Pressure Off Javonte Williams<\/p>\n Maybe more important, though, is that Harris emphasized that the backup running back is likely to take on more work than last year when Williams was heading into free agency and the Cowboys had no future commitment to him. Now, Williams is back on a three-year, $24 million contract, and the Cowboys want him to be fresh for the life of the deal.<\/p>\n Added Harris: \u201cI think the role could look different from what it did in 2025. To help maximize Javonte Williams\u2019 three-year contract, I would be surprised if he gets the 287 touches he got a year ago. As a result, look for the guy(s) behind him to work into early passing down situations. I still like Williams as the third down pass protector until someone behind him can show his value there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSean Deveney<\/strong><\/a> is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Running back Malik Davis #34 of the Dallas Cowboys As the NFL offseason lurches forward through the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":802005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-802004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-tx","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116587814007713228","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}