2024 Roster Review: Backup running backs – Part 4 of 17. Click here to view all articles in this series.
No matter how it plays out – the Cowboys manage to resign Tony Pollard or he leaves in free agency – Dallas is somewhat thin at backup running back.
Rico Dowdle, Hunter Luepke, and Deuce Vaughn currently sit behind Pollard on the depth chart. Of the three, Dowdle saw the most action in 2023.
It is highly unlikely that any of the three would slide into the starting running back slot should Pollard depart, and definitely not if he is retained.
If Pollard goes – and Dallas signs a big free agent and/or drafts a back early – it will be interesting to see how it impacts the three remaining players.
Rico Dowdle
Dowdle is a restricted free agent going into this upcoming season. He should be resigned by Dallas even if they sign and draft a running back this spring.
Dowdle had 361 yards and two touchdowns on 89 carries. He added 144 yards on 17 catches.
He saw action – and touches – in all 16 games he played in during the 2023 season, being inactive for the win over the Lions.
At four yards a carry, Dowdle proved to be a good change of pace back for Pollard. At times he looked quicker to the hole than Pollard too.
Of the three, Dowdle's spot on the roster seems secure no matter what the front office's plans are for the position group.
Deuce Vaughn
Vaughn is signed through the 2026 season at a rough average of $1 million a year with an option for the 2027 season.
Vaughn was the feel-good story of the 2023 NFL Draft. The son of one of the Cowboys' scouted getting drafted by his dad's team.
Over the first two games of the season, it looked like the fairy tale would only get better.
He had nine carries for 24 yards and caught all three of his targets for another 16 yards as the Cowboys swept the Giants and Jets.
He vanished in the Arizona loss, with only one special teams snap. Then had 16 yards on 11 carries combined in the next two games.
Over the next 12 weeks however, he had a combined three carries for zero yards and two catches for 21 yards in wins over the Giants and Lions.
He was inactive for nine games and did not see action in one game he suited up for. He did not score a touchdown all year.
The plan for Vaughn was supposed to be the Cowboys' version of Darren Sproles.
That never materialized and that failure is on the coaching staff and Mike McCarthy.
If Vaughn remains on the team in 2024 he needs to be utilized properly or he is doomed to have a poor NFL career.
Hunter Luepke
Speaking of a player ill-served by his coach.
Luepke is signed through the end of the 2025 season at roughly the same cost as Vaughn. He will be a restricted free agent in 2026.
Also like Vaughn, there was supposed to be a plan for Luepke.
Coming into last season he was seen as a fullback in the mold of former Packers' fullback John Kuhn.
For the most part, the plan held. The majority of Luepke's snaps saw him in as a blocking back.
And for the most part he got the job done – with the occasional miss you have to expect will happen with any rookie.
In the first 14 games of the season, Luepke had 16 yards on four carries and scored a touchdown against the Patriots in Week 4. He also had 10 yards on two catches.
Then came the game in Miami.
On the opening drive of the game Luepke had two runs for three yards. Both runs resulted in first downs.
He then caught an eight yard pass just two plays later.
For the first time all season, the Cowboys seemed to have discovered that they had a fullback on the roster. Then disaster hit.
On first and goal at the one, Luepke and Dak Prescott failed to complete a handoff on a fullback plunge.
As Luepke at no point possessed the ball, Prescott was charged with the fumble.
Depending on which angle you watch the play from, either Luepke didn't get his arms into position to receive the handoff or Prescott didn't get the ball where it needed to be.
In the end, it doesn't matter. The Cowboys turned the ball over.
Luepke never touched the ball again for the rest of the year.
And that is terrible coaching on McCarthy's part.
He should have found a way to get Luepke the ball again in the Miami game. If Dallas intends to keep Luepke in 2024 his confidence level is going to be low.
And Luepke can be a solid fullback that Dallas needs to keep, and keep getting the ball too.
Because Pollard's greatest weakness in 2023 was getting that one yard on short-yardage situations.
