As of today, it appears as if the Dallas Cowboys will likely stay at No. 4 in Thursday night's NFL draft where they may be choosing from three top-tier players: Joey Bosa, Jalen Ramsay and Ezekiel Elliott. Of those three, Elliott is the most intriguing.
The running back position has been greatly devalued in the NFL over the past decade, but Dallas was at its most effective when DeMarco Murray was running all over opposing defenses in 2014. Though Elliott is the top prospect at his position in this year's draft class, a top-five pick may be too high of a price to pay. As we saw with Trent Richardson, projecting RBs can be tricky sometimes. However, Cowboys Executive Vice President Stephen Jones is high on the Ohio State ball-carrier.
"I think he's worthy of being in the top 10, for sure," Jones said Monday. "Where we ultimately end up with him is still a work in progress, he's obviously a very quality type player and seems like he's pretty much universally looked at as a guy who deserves to be in that category."
The Cowboys squeezed a solid year of production out of Darren McFadden last year and signed former Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris in free agency this offseason. Given the strength of their offensive line, owner and general manager Jerry Jones doesn't think it's absolutely necessary to add a back so early.
"I don't think we have to have a running back at all with McFadden, Morris and the possibility of [Lance] Dunbar coming in," Jones said. "Of course I don't think you're implying that, that we have to go early on a running back. There are some other running backs who could give you another opportunity to look at the future, but I think everybody has done some good work around here this spring and we're not in a 'have to' situation at all on running back."
Elliott averaged 6.3 yards per carry last season while rushing for 1,821 yards and 23 touchdowns. In 35 career games in college, Elliott amassed 44 total touchdowns. That talent is likely what prompted the Cowboys owner to add: "You look at what will ultimately be the biggest impact on your team. Just because we didn't [re-sign] Murray, just because we have running back by committee, just because we have veterans as we've said, doesn't mean at all that we're not in the running back business."
Follow Brandon Katz at @Great_Katzby
