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Javonte Williams getting locked up on a three-year, $24M deal is Dallas telling you they’re comfortable building the run game around him for the immediate future, not treating running back as an emergency in April. Coming off a 1,200-yard, 11 touchdown season, he’s not just a guy they’re keeping around, he’s a clear RB1 they’re paying like a legit offensive centerpiece for this roster. That alone changes the draft math if Jerry and company have already spent meaningful cap at the position. You usually don’t spend premium draft capital there unless the class is special or the depth chart is shaky.
So the clean read is Dallas doesn’t need to draft a running back early. Williams’ deal stabilizes the position, and it lets the front office allocate premium picks toward higher-leverage roster problems, mostly on defense, or whatever their board says is value. Even if they still add a runner, it can be a late-Day 3 role pick instead of a top-100 investment.
But the reason running back doesn’t fully go away for Dallas is the same reason teams keep drafting the position even after paying one, cost-controlled depth and position volatility. And this is where Jaydon Blue’s issues matter. The knocks on Blue haven’t been about burst – Dallas clearly likes the home-run ability – but about trust. Ball security and pass protection, plus the do the little things better, means Blue had issues staying active on game day last year. If the coaching staff isn’t sure he can protect the quarterback or the football, it’s hard to pencil him in as RB2.
That’s why Dallas still might draft a back, even after paying Williams. Not to replace him, but to create a trustworthy option behind him and avoid getting trapped if Blue doesn’t earn that trust. If Blue remains a package player rather than a complete RB2, the Cowboys could absolutely justify drafting a runner who is cleaner in protection and ball security, even if the ceiling is lower. This becomes the frustration with Blue and his 2025 season.
And that brings us to Malik Davis. The Williams extension is bad news for him in the simplest sense, fewer available carries and fewer realistic paths to being more than a depth piece. But Davis’ actual leverage on this roster is role clarity. If the staff views him as the steadier, assignment-sound back, he can still matter a lot even with Williams entrenched because the RB2 job is often more about trust than talent. Some of Blue’s rookie season even allowed Davis to capitalize on snaps and show his consistency while Blue tried to earn that trust back.
The problem for Davis is that if Dallas uses a Day 3 pick on a reliable back, that rookie is directly competing with Davis for the same roster spot. In other words, Williams being paid reduces the need for a high pick at running back, but Blue’s trust issues increase the likelihood they still draft somebody and the moment they do, Davis is the one whose seat gets hottest, because he’s fighting for depth in the summer.
The real decider on what Dallas do at running back in the draft, however, really boils down to Phil Mafah. His presence is exactly the kind of internal variable that can make Dallas either comfortable not drafting running back or push them toward doing it anyway. Mafah is the big, physical, downhill, short-yardage finisher and tone-setter that could make Dallas avoid drafting a back completely. His rookie usage was minimal, but when he finally got the chance he gave the Cowboys coaches something to think about here.
If they feel he really is the dirty work type back then Dallas has a coherent, complementary depth structure with Williams as the feature. With Mafah as the power closer, and Blue as the change-of-pace speed package spending the year developing then the coaching staff can go into the draft thinking they can survive without using a draft pick.
The main thing to watch here is what they do on Day 3 in the draft. If we see them pick up a late-round running back, that tells us they do not feel confident in what they have behind Williams and also want insurance due to the volatility of the position. If the position is left alone in the draft, then that means they believe in the depth they already have, and expect a major battle at the RB2 position in Oxnard between the guys we all watched in 2025.