It isn’t exhausting to discover a mock draft that has the Dallas Cowboys taking Boise State working again Ashton Jeanty at quantity 12 general. Usually. we all the time attain a degree within the draft course of the place a goal turns into very well-connected to the Cowboys, however that tends to occur a lot nearer to draft time. Given who Ashton Jeanty is and who the Cowboys have been, folks have been drawing the road between them for a couple of months already and we’re nonetheless solely in February.
If you add to this combine that the Cowboys have a head coach now in Brian Schottenheimer with a historical past with working the ball, and what the league appeared like this previous season, the mathematics continues to take a look at at each step of the method.
However what if Ashton Jeanty is nicely gone by the point that Dallas is on the clock?
Mel Kiper has the Cowboys taking UNC’s Omarion Hampton at 12 general
There’s a contingent of people that don’t wish to see the Cowboys take Ashton Jeanty, even when he had been to fall to 12 general. It’s actually doable that he could not given the kind of participant he has proven himself to be, though the draft course of nonetheless has loads to unveil to us earlier than names begin getting written down on playing cards.
Nevertheless you’re feeling, Jeanty was not an choice for the Cowboys in Mel Kiper’s newest mock as he had gone to the Las Vegas Raiders six picks earlier. Kiper seems to actually imagine that Dallas is ready on working again although as he has the Cowboys taking UNC’s Omarion Hampton.
12. Dallas Cowboys
Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
I’ve talked to folks within the NFL who’ve Jeanty and Hampton neck and neck for RB1, and there are even some preferring Hampton. And I have a look at Dallas’ resolution to rent Brian Schottenheimer as coach and might’t assist however take into consideration his father, Marty, and all these run-heavy offenses he had over 21 seasons in the identical job for 4 completely different groups. One would assume a few of that can rub off on the Cowboys’ new coach, even with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb within the offense.
However to jump-start the run recreation, the Cowboys really want a legit working again. Rico Dowdle was respectable (1,079 yards), however he’s a free agent and Dallas will doubtless wish to improve. Plus, this workforce has been identified to make use of early picks on the place previously, together with drafting Ezekiel Elliott at No. 4 in 2016. Hampton is a home-run hitter who had 1,660 yards and 15 speeding TDs in 2024.
Omarion Hampton has under no circumstances been as linked to the Cowboys as Ashton Jeanty, however he’s a wildly proficient participant. NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah has Jeanty as his third general participant, however nonetheless thinks extremely of Hampton as he has him at 19.
Hampton doesn’t appear to be as prolific as Jeanty, however which will say extra in regards to the latter than the previous. The Cowboys can very a lot profit from Hampton and his personal stage of explosiveness, however the greater takeaway right here could also be that NFL draft specialists actually assume that Dallas goes to go working again within the first spherical even when Jeanty is gone.
It could sound stunning to see two working backs going so excessive within the draft given the narrative across the place and its stage of price in latest historical past. Apparently sufficient, the final time that two working backs went within the prime 12 was truly solely two years in the past when Bijan Robinson went to the Atlanta Falcons (8) and Jahmyr Gibbs went to the Detroit Lions (12).
Whereas that was the case, working again remains to be in a precarious spot general relative to the draft. That is when the primary working again was taken off of the board courting again to Dallas choosing Ezekiel Elliott at fourth general.
On some stage it has felt like Jeanty to Dallas was inevitable, however that is an attention-grabbing emphasis on the place being the decide virtually it doesn’t matter what. Perhaps the Cowboys are that hellbent on re-establishing the run or possibly that is your commonplace chum within the water throughout the week of the NFL mix.
