DeMarco Murray felt he had to spread his wings, so he left the Dallas Cowboys for the division rival Philadelphia Eagles in free agency this offseason. The rushing options left behind in Big D don't inspire the same type of trepidation in the eyes of most NFL pundits. No disrespect to Darren McFadden, Joseph Randle, Lance Dunbar and Ryan Williams, but it would be a surprise if any of those backs approached Murray's 2,261 total yards from a year ago.
Despite this, owner and general manager Jerry Jones believes the running game has actually improved compared to last year.
"We're better," Jones said Wednesday. "Murray certainly is in that thought, but what we've got a chance to do with our depth, what we've got a chance to do with the talent, the competition that we have, and I'm assuming that we can protect [Tony] Romo, which standing here last year, the concerns about his surgeries were more so than today.
"So if Romo can have the kind of year that he had last year, then our running game will benefit from that."
Romo, who set career highs in completion percentage (69.9) and touchdowns (34) last year, echoed a similar sentiment in a radio interview on Wednesday.
"They're competing right now and it's going to be a great competition," Romo said on 105.3 The Fan. "One thing you love to have is competition on your football team. It just brings the best players to the front. I think that position is another great example. We're going to get out there and these guys are going to figure out a way to see who is going to help us the most.
"I'm sure we're going to play multiple guys. It'll be fun to watch these guys get after it and compete. Someone will win that job and they'll have a good year."
Dallas' offensive line features three-first round pick. The team also recently added LSU standout La'El Collins, who was a first-round talent that went undrafted after police wanted to question him about the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend. However, Collins is not a suspect in the case and has already spoken with authorities about the matter.
