The Dallas Cowboys have signed former Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris to a two-year contract who should be a solid choice for a change-of-pace back behind Darren McFadden. The Cowboys, however, are likely to draft a running back, so the question becomes will they draft their bell cow or just a complimentary piece?
Morris is still productive, bit he may not make the best lead back for the Cowboys' offense as he has looked a bit older running the football. Morris struggled all last season to run behind the porous Washington offensive line. In 2015 Morris played in every game; however his production looked to have declined significantly.
He only recorded 202 attempts, 751 yards a touchdown, and 3.7 yards per carry as he struggled to find any open lanes. He also saw a lot of his production vultured by the younger backs on the Redskins' roster. Now with the Cowboys Morris should see a ton of work if they do not draft Ezekiel Elliott in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Signing Morris does not make this a guarantee, but the Cowboys could focus a lot of their attention on mid-round running backs instead of using their first round selection. Players such as Alex Collins from Arkansas, C.J. Prosise from Notre Dame, Kenyan Drake from Alabama and Kenneth Dixon from Louisiana Tech seem to fall in line with how Dallas has been drafting recently.
The Cowboys have devalued the running back position, so it seemed strange that they were so connected to Elliott to begin with. This is a franchise that spent several drafts building up the offensive line to the point where it really doesn't matter which back runs behind it. McFadden made that point by registering his first 1,000-plus-yard rushing season since 2010.
The signing of Morris allows the Cowboys to focus on the defensive line for either their second or third round pick, unless Derrick Henry is the top player on their draft board when they pick in the second round. Ideally the Cowboys would draft Jalen Ramsey, a quality pass rusher/defensive linemen, and then focus on running back or wide receiver. Adding Morris does, however, give the Cowboys a bit more punch to their running attack.
