The Dallas Cowboys have several needs on both sides of the ball, and they do most of their work in the draft. As fans have seen in the past, the Cowboys do not sign many free agents, so the draft is the offseason highlight.
This team’s needs range from running back to safety and many more positions in between, and they are becoming more blatant as the season goes along.
Can the front office make the right call to the correct player on draft night in the first round? Only time will tell, and fans have seen this team make some pretty questionable decisions in the first round, so anything is possible.
A Navy Kid Who Excelled on the Football Field
The son of a United States Navy chief petty officer, Ashton Jeanty, began his football career as a high school freshman in Naples, Italy.
His high school was Naples Middle/High School, which is part of the Department of Defense Education Activity system. It is located in Gricignano di Aversa, Campania, Italy.
Surprisingly, Ashton Jeanty was discovered in 7th grade on a basketball court in Italy, not on a football field. This is because kids could not play football until they were freshmen in high school.
Naples High School football coach Jim Davis saw his talent.
“He’s going up for a layup and he’s getting so much height I’m thinking this kid’s about to dunk the ball. As a seventh grader, you can imagine how short he is. He’s 5-9, 5-10 now. So he was probably closer to 5-4 or 5-5. And it’s like, Wow, look at the power this kid has at such a young age.”
Ashton Jeanty would start his first year of high school football in 2018 as the quarterback, but two games into the season, the coach saw Jeanty should be the running back.
In the season’s last four games, running back Ashton Jeanty ran for 1,200 yards and had 17 touchdowns.
The football team played other military children at similar high schools on bases around Europe.
From Italy to Texas to Idaho
Following Ashton Jeanty’s freshman year in Italy, he moved to Frisco, Texas, where he played football at Lone Star High School from 2019 to 2021.
During his time at Lone Star High School, he would have 273 carries, 2,226 rushing yards, 39 rushing touchdowns, 97 receptions, 1,619 receiving yards, and 17 receiving touchdowns.
This led him to be ranked 1,284th nationally, the 90th running back nationally, and the 188th prospect in Texas. He received 15 offers to play at the next level before deciding to play at Boise State University.
His time at Boise State University started in 2022, where he hit the ground running. The following are his rushing statistics from Boise State over the last three years, so far.
In 2022, he had 156 carries for 821 yards and seven touchdowns. In 2023, he would take the lead back role, and the numbers reflect that promotion.
In 2023, Ashton Jeanty had 220 carries for 1,347 yards and 14 touchdowns.
This season, 2024, is when Jeanty would start getting national attention due to his record pace stats. He has 224 carries for 1,734 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns.
The Heisman candidate could see these statistics grow as the season continues, but could these numbers bring him back to Texas?
I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby
Kid Rock said it best in the lyrics of his hit song “Cowboy.” Ashton Jeanty did not say this phrase, but he is thinking, “I wanna be a Cowboy, Baby!”
Ashton Jeanty would love for the Dallas Cowboys to draft him so he could go back home and play in front of family and friends. Here is what he had to say about the NFL draft.
Please script this and put a star on this man’s helmet.
Ashton Jeanty and Rico Dowdle would be a formidable backfield for the Dallas Cowboys.
Rico Dowdle is coming into his own as the backfield leader, averaging over five yards a carry. Add Ashton Jeanty to the mix next year, and the Cowboy’s backfield will see a resurgence.
Let’s add this to the backfield and unleash this offense…
This explosiveness and the pass protection he brings would keep the defense guessing whether it is him or Rico Dowdle in the backfield.
The pass protection Ashton Jeanty brings to the backfield is reminiscent of a young Ezekiel Elliott.
This young man wants to become a Dallas Cowboy, and it is the front office’s job to make it happen. If he is sitting near their pick on draft day, trade up if needed to get this man in the silver and blue.