Dunbar Working To Begin Year In Cowboys Backfield
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By Mike Fisher
FRISCO (105.3 The Fan) - In every single case, NFL roster decisions "work themselves out.'' That might be happening as we speak for the Cowboys and their in-flux running backs group.
Lance Dunbar was lost in Week 4 of the 2015 season with a torn ACL, a torn MCL and an expectation that he might endure a rehab so demanding that he wouldn't be able to be ready to start 2016.
At a level above Dunbar, Dallas drafted Ezekiel Elliott in Round 1 of this spring's NFL draft, and he will be the bellcow. But after that? Veteran signee Alfred Morris, formerly of the Redskins, figures to be the No. 2 guy ... but not all observers saw it that way until incumbent starter Darren McFadden broke his elbow in a non-football mishap.
Toss SPARQ'y draftee Darius Jackson into the group and you had talent combined with availability issues and roles to be determined and jobs to be determined, for how many running backs, exactly, can you keep around?
But suddenly Dunbar -- valuable to this club early last year -- might be ahead of schedule for this season, and a bargain under the terms of his one-year, $1.75 million contract.
"I can't wait for training camp!! Respect the process!!'' Dunbar recently tweeted, echoing some of the optimism coming from the Dallas front office.
If Dunbar isn't placed on the PUP list to start the year (forcing him to sit the first six weeks of the regular season) the Cowboys backfield looks overflowing with options and sharper with defined roles. Zeke as the workhorse. Morris as his backup. And Dunbar as the curveball.
All of that could mean that McFadden is an asset best used as trade bait and that Jackson can be stashed and not rushed. Of course, Dallas doesn't want to rush Dunbar, either, as he "respects the process.''
But a re-tooling of the post-DeMarco Murray backfield group is about complete ... may be better than ever ... and might just include Dunbar sooner than expected.
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