The Dallas Cowboys made a complete overhaul of the running back room during the 2025 NFL offseason. After Rico Dowdle, the team’s leading rusher in 2024, departed for the Carolina Panthers in free agency, they went out looking for reinforcements.
Dallas signed veteran running backs Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders in free agency, while adding Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah in the NFL draft.
The team suddenly has a crowded backfield, but there is no established No. 1. While training camp will determine who enters the season as the lead back, there is a belief that Williams could have the inside track to the role, which could have some fantasy football implications.
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Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport shared a list of 8 players who could be fantasy football players for the 2025 season, and Williams was among those to make the cut.
“Williams isn’t guaranteed the lead job in Dallas—he’s competing with veteran Miles Sanders and rookie Jaydon Blue. But Sanders was awful the past two years in Carolina (just 55 carries in 2024), and Blue is an undersized back,” Davenport writes.
“If Williams truly is healthy again, he should win this competition—and Dallas got a 1,000-yard season and low-end fantasy RB2 numbers out of Rico ‘Not Exactly Barry Sanders’ Dowdle last year.”
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Throughout his four seasons in Denver, Williams recorded 2,394 yards and 11 touchdowns, but he was never fully back to form after his rookie year, when he rushed for 903 yards before injuries began to plague his career.
He has said that he is happy to finally be healthy and excited for a second chance with the Cowboys.
The Cowboys officially kick off training camp on Monday, July 21, so we will get a better idea of how the running back rotation will shape up in the coming weeks and throughout the preseason.
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