It's no secret the Dallas Cowboys have their eye on adding at least one dynamic young running back in the 2015 NFL Draft this month and, depending on how the board falls, potentially even two.
After last season's leading rusher in the NFL, DeMarco Murray, departed for Philadelphia during the NFL's free agency period, taking his 1,845 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns with him, the Cowboys are left with a running back depth chart topped by a former first-round pick flirting with the bust label and somehow, after seven NFL seasons, is still operating mostly on hope and potential instead of actual production in Darren McFadden.
While most pundits point to the Cowboys first-round pick, No. 27, and the draft's two top backs, Georgie's Todd Gurley and Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon, as the likeliest marriage of need and value in late April, it seems the Cowboys and de facto GM Jerry Jones are at least doing their due diligence on the other backs that will be available.
To that end, the Cowboys reportedly sent a coach to the South Carolina Pro Day on Wednesday in order to pay specific attention to somewhat unheralded former Gamecocks running back, Mike Davis.
"Interesting note - the Dallas Cowboys sent a coach to specifically observe Davis," writes Tony Pauline of Walter Football. "During the workout, which was run by the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Cowboys' coach was requesting for Davis to run specific drills. Shades of Tom Savage/Bill O'Brien from last year?"
Savage, of course, was the fast-rising quarterback prospect out of Pittsburgh who the Texans and O'Brien wound up selecting in the fourth-round of the 2014 NFL Draft after paying close and specific attention to him during the pre-draft process.
Davis, 5-foot-9, 223-pounds, entered this past season for South Carolina with high expectations. He was viewed by many as a potential Heisman candidate after a sophomore season which saw him gather 1,183 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns.
Davis wound up struggling due to a pulled hamstring and bruised ribs during the preseason and never quite seemed able to get on track, finishing with just 982 yards and nine touchdowns on 199 attempts.
An unnamed scout told Sports Illustrated in November that Davis projects as a third or fourth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft and compares well to Kansas City Chiefs running back Knile Davis, due mostly to the fact that his mediocre junior season will likely drop him down draft boards despite the fact that he still boasts considerable ability.
"It's the same thing," the scout said. "Everybody thought Knile Davis was terrible. He was fumbling the ball. He was kind of not there. Production was down. Team wasn't good. Now, look he's making plays."
Unfortunately for Davis, he did not seem to "wow" scouts with his effort during the South Carolina workout on Wednesday.
"While he was faster and looked a bit slimmer, sources say his conditioning was 'not ideal,' as Davis was not running through drills and struggled to get through pass-catching drills," writes Pauline.
Considering Davis' struggles, his stock may now be lower than the third or fourth-round, which could actually prove beneficial to the Cowboys.
It is likely that Jones will have Dallas picking a back like Gurley or Gordon in one of the first two rounds, so perhaps a player like Davis could be a quality fallback option and potentially even a second selection as the Cowboys look to completely revamp their stable of running backs.
