And Tyjae Spears should be OK... Nothing major.

Related players: Tony Pollard

Spears is the RB2 behind Pollard, who finished with 17 carries and 62 yards, but maybe more important was Pollard collecting five catches for 40 yards. It looks like Spears should be good for Week 3 - and we'll continue to monitor how practice goes this week, however, Spears looks to be running behind Pollard at this point.

The distribution of touches for Titans RBs wasn't where Brian Callahan wanted it to be. But he noted that Tony Pollard ran the ball well and in the 2nd half they had trouble sustaining drives which hindered opportunities to get others involved.

Related players: Tyjae Spears

Pollard was the top back in Week 1 despite a summer full of seeing both Pollard and Spears listed as RB1 on the depth chart and talks of a split in workload. While that wasn't the case, the good news here for Spears and his fantasy owners is there is at least some coach-speak about getting more of a balance in touches going forward. Pollard had 19 touches to Spears' 8 in Week 1. Spears owners may have to use the "wait-and-see" approach with Spears before putting him in lineups for Week 2, however.

While they moved quickly to sign Tony Pollard in March, they don’t project the former Cowboy will play a similar role to the one that Travis Henry filled in Tennessee. Last year’s third-round pick Tyjae Spears is also on hand and head coach Brian Callahan made it clear on Tuesday that he expects both players to see plenty of time in the offense this season.

“The fun part for me is: How are we going to deploy those guys?,” Callahan said, via the team’s website. “Maybe they both play at the same time, maybe one gets hot and you let him run, maybe we just rotate back and forth. I don’t know what that’s going to look like yet. But they are both going to play quite a bit of football for us, and I don’t view either one of them as a starter or a back-up. They are both starting players to me.”

Not exactly what fantasy owners want to hear. The statement makes a lot of sense and probably shouldn't come as a surprise. However, many consider Pollard and Spears to be of the same mold. As you would expect, the expectation of both players seeing lots of time puts a hit on their rankings. We have Pollard ranked 32nd and Spears 34th, with Pollard's ADP in the 8th round and Spears' the 9th round. Hopefully we get a better feel by the time fantasy drafts come around, but it looks like both players could be Zero RB targets for those using that approach.

Rico Dowdle, an undrafted, 26-year-old running back, functioned as the Cowboys No. 2 running back behind Tony Pollard in 2023 at the age of 25, but in 2024, there's the chance he may end up leading Dallas in carries in the regular season.

"Definitely, he's had a good off season, looks great," HC Mike McCarthy said at Cowboys OTAs on May 30. "You know, I think just like anytime these guys have a chance to really hone in their training. So, Rico's done an excellent job there. Very comfortable [with him]. He's very, very bright, very instinctive football player. So, he's definitely one of the the lead lead guys in the room as far as his experience here, but also his understanding of the offense."

Related players: Ezekiel Elliott, Deuce Vaughn

Dowdle was listed among five potential Cowboys breakout candidates for this coming season. Dowdle compared his running style to Elliott's, just smaller in size, and he believes he is more of an all-around RB. In the story, Elliott said he views himself as a starter but also wants to keep himself fresh for a stretch run and potential playoff run, meaning Dowdle could get significant work in the offense. The Cowboys RB situation is just one of many things to keep an eye on this offseason.

The Titans are giving former Cowboys RB Tony Pollard a 3-year deal worth $24M.

Related Players: Tyjae Spears

Pollard had moderate success when taking over the Cowboys backfield last season, but that was heavily influenced by volume. Pollard should be considered a top-30 option heading into 2024, while Tyjae Spears should be in very heavy consideration as a late-round option as his ADP dips following the signing.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy on 1053thefan on rookie RB Deuce Vaughn getting an opportunity Saturday night with No. 2 RB Rico Dowdle (ankle) being out: “Deuce will be up this weekend. We got a plan and looking forward to it.”

Related Players: Tony Pollard

Dowdle had seen some increased usage over the back half of the season, but we probably shouldn't expect the 5'5", 176-pound rookie back to be eating into Pollard's workload too much. Vaughn has carried the ball 21 times for 38 yards (1.8/att.) to this point in the season.

Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle, who was limited this week with an ankle injury, is expected to go, source said. He's emerged as a complementary back to Tony Pollard.

Dowdle has received more work as of late, including 10+ carries in three of his last four outings. Consider him a low-end FLEX play on Thanksgiving.

Cowboys have released RB Ronald Jones, they announced.

Related players: Tony Pollard, Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn

There were reports of this leading into Week 2. Jones was suspended for the first two weeks of the season but was able to come back today. However, the Cowboys are set up pretty good at RB with Pollard as the starter and youngsters like Dowdle and Vaughn as a supporting cast. Jones is still 26-years-old himself, and could provide depth on another roster at some point.

Cowboys waived RB Malik Davis, a person familiar with the decision said.

Related players: Rico Dowdle, Tony Pollard, Deuce Vaughn, Ronald Jones

In the end, Davis - who seemed like he had a chance to earn the RB2 job early on - trailed Dowdle and Vaughn this summer, but the team has interest in re-signing him to practice squad if he clears waivers, according to the rest of the post.

Per a source close to the situation, the Cowboys are set to part ways with the two-time NFL rushing champ, and the running back is preparing to start fresh with a new team.

Related Players: Tony Pollard

Elliot has clearly been playing with less in the tank over the last few seasons, but rumblings around Dallas had been that he wasn't going anywhere. Then they franchise-tagged Tony Pollard for $10.1M, and the rumors began to swirl. The Cowboys will undoubtedly add to the backfield, but for now, Pollard is the de facto RB1 and finally get the chance to prove if he is a top-15 back in fantasy.