Running Back Darius Anderson has already enjoyed a lot of success in the state of Texas, going from George Ranch High School in Fort Bend to Texas Christian University. Now an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys, Anderson will need a big 2020 training camp and preseason to keep playing football in his home state.
Anderson is smaller back at 5’11” and 195 lbs. He doesn’t have great top speed with just a 4.61 time in the 40-yard dash, but he performed well in the quickness and agility drills.
In his senior year, Darius led the Horned Frogs with 823 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He also had 22 catches for 128 yards, and served as TCU’s kick returner.
It will be those latter points which could help Anderson find a role on the Cowboys. If Dallas even keeps a third RB, which they didn’t last season, it will almost certainly be a player who can contribute on special teams.
The kick returning may not matter much if RB Tony Pollard already has that job locked up. But with Pollard’s offensive role expected to increase from his rookie year, perhaps Dallas would want a less valuable asset handling kickoffs.
Even if they’re not return men, some running backs make it on their ability to block and cover on special teams. We’ve seen that with guys like Phillip Tanner and Rod Smith in recent years.
Unfortunately, blocking is currently a weak point in Darius Anderson’s game. It will especially hurt him on offense if asked to pass block, but it could be a detriment to his special teams value as well.
The competition for that third RB spot is going to be tough as well. Jordan Chunn is the current front-runner after two seasons on Dallas’ practice squad. There’s also fellow rookie Rico Dowdle, who our own Brian Martin thinks is the best candidate to make the team from among the undrafted free agents.
What really matters for all of these players is how they perform over the next few months. Combine performances and college stats won’t matter much if they can’t pick up the Cowboys’ offense, or if they don’t perform well on special teams.
Darius Anderson has some good skills to offer. He’ll have to overcome some physical deficiencies, and some other solid prospects, if he wants to stick around in Dallas in 2020.
