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Drafting RB in 2025 should be a numbers game for Cowboys, but can afford patience?
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- Drafting RB in 2025 should be a numbers game for Cowboys, but can afford patience?
To target a running back early or not to target a running back early, that is the question.
The debate has waged all offseason over not if, but when the Dallas Cowboys should pull the trigger at the running back position in the 2025 NFL draft. First, we discussed waiting to Day 3 and attacking value as it slips through the cracks . Then we discussed what happened last season and the knee-jerk reaction to earmark a pick specifically for the RB position this draft cycle.
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Since then, people have discussed reaching for one of the top RBs at No. 12, moving up earlier in the draft to pluck away the cream of crop, and even double-dipping at RB across multiple days of the draft. Cases can be made for each approach even if some arguments are flimsier than others.
Whatever strategy the Cowboys choose to employ, it's important they keep one important thing in mind: it's a numbers game at the RB position this year.
The 2025 RB draft class isn't just star-studded, it's extremely deep. There are well over 20 prospects this year that hold legitimate starting potential. To be fair, the fall-off from RB1 to RB20 is significant, but the same can't be said for many of the prospects populating the ranks after RB4. It stands to reason that unless a team want to pluck one of those elite talents in the top four, there is plenty of incentive to sit back and wait.
Obviously, this is easier said than done for a team like the Cowboys. Nobody in Dallas actually wants to see Javonte Williams enter Week 1 as the Cowboys unchallenged starter at RB, so the instinct to pick someone, anyone, in the first three rounds in understandable. And if a specific player the scouting department is targeting is available in those early rounds, it would make sense to do just that. But that approach ignores one of the greatest strengths of the draft, which is the depth.
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Unless multiple teams double-dip and select multiple RBs before Dallas, the Cowboys are going to get their guy at some point this draft cycle. Again, the numbers on their side because it's a buyers' market and the supply has seemingly exceeded the demand.
There's also the secondary market sure to arise after the draft. When teams load up on cheap and talented prospects this draft cycle, they're inevitably going to remove veterans from their respective rosters. It's going to open up a whole new range of possibilities for a team waiting in the wings.
Make no mistake it would be a mild travesty not to get an exciting prospect from this draft class, but the depth combined with the secondary market don't make it the end of the world. It's a factor the Cowboys would be wise to keep in mind as they head into the draft.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: 2025 NFL draft: Cowboys playing in a numbers game at RB
