Big Questions at Running Back Shouldn't Be a Major Concern for Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray ran for the highest yardage total in team history last season, but Murray is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next month, and the Cowboys haven't hid the fact they may have trouble re-signing him. 

Murray's backup, Joseph Randle, averaged more yards per carry than any back in football with at least 50 rushes in 2014, but according to KAKE TV in Randle's hometown of Wichita, Kansas, the 23-year-old back was arrested on a drug charge stemming from a domestic violence call there on Wednesday morning. 

Clarence Hill of Bleacher Report and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram points out that Randle may have only been ticketed rather than arrested, but this would still mark the second time in less than four months that the 2013 fifth-round pick has run into trouble with the law. He admitted to stealing from a Dallas-area department store after being arrested on shoplifting charges in October. 

Sufficed to say, his future as an NFL running back, let alone a potential starter in Dallas, is very much up in the air. 

Same applies to third-stringer Lance Dunbar, who is slated to become a restricted free agent in March but averaged just 3.4 yards per carry in 2014 anyway. The only other back on the roster is veteran Ryan Williams, who has played in just five games since entering the league in 2011 and is gifted in the art of getting injured. 

Naturally, that has some concerned about the running back position in Dallas. But the funny thing about this league is you don't necessarily need to have accomplished running backs in order to have a good running game. That explains why Murray went from "solid back" to All-Pro in 2014 and why Randle was somehow able to gain 10 or more yards on 22 percent of his carries. 

The Cowboys don't need Murray, and it would be fiscally irresponsible of them to pay him top dollar as a free agent. They don't need to sacrifice at other positions in order to reel in a veteran star like soon-to-be-30-year-old Adrian Peterson, whose best days are likely behind him. 

They need to keep collecting backs at an NFL equivalent to a dime a dozen, and they appear to be realize that. It explains why they signed the talented but injury-prone Williams off the practice squad last week and why they haven't drafted a running back in the first or second round since taking Felix Jones in 2008. 

They know better. They realize that you're better off drafting top-tier offensive linemen, who typically have significantly longer shelf lives and who can contribute as both pass protectors and run-blockers. Hence the decision to use first-round draft picks on offensive linemen three times in a four-year span.  

And because all of those picks have paid off in a major way, with left tackle Tyron Smith, center Travis Frederick and right guard Zack Martin all making the Pro Bowl in 2014, the Cowboys have earned the luxury of not having to stress over, or invest heavily in, their arrangement of running backs. 

Position	Player	Age	Round drafted	Pro Bowler?	All-Pro?
Left tackle	Tyron Smith	24	1st	Yes	1st team
Left guard	Ronald Leary	25	UD	No	No
Center	Travis Frederick	24	1st	Yes	2nd team
Right guard	Zack Martin	24	1st	Yes	1st team
Right tackle	Doug Free	31	4th	No	No

Chances are, they'll get success from whomever they plug in behind quarterback Tony Romo next year. That's what happens when you get holes like these to work with:

Murray for 25 yards Week 6 against the Seahawks: 

NFL Game Pass

Murray for 21 yards Week 10 against the Jaguars:

NFL Game Pass

Randle for 40 yards in the same game: 

NFL Game Pass

Murray for 40 yards Week 14 against the Bears: 

NFL Game Pass

Randle for 65 yards Week 17 against the Redskins: 

NFL Game Pass

Those are extreme examples, but the point is that it was easy to run behind this line throughout the year, and it should only become easier as that terrific trio gains experience. 

And with Romo coming off his best year yet and Pro Bowl pass-catchers Dez Bryant and Jason Witten also staying on board (Bryant is an impending free agent who will, at the very least, be hit with the franchise tag), those tasked with carrying the ball will also benefit from working against honest defenses within one of the league's most balanced offenses. 

Running backs have become laughably easy to find. How else do you explain undrafted free agent Arian Foster rushing for more yards than anyone in the game except Peterson between 2010 and 2012? Or sixth-round pick Alfred Morris rushing for more yards than anyone except Marshawn Lynch between 2012 and 2014? Of the 13 backs who ran for 1,000 yards in 2014, only one—Lynch—was drafted in the first round, and eight were still playing under their rookie contracts. 

It's become an accepted philosophy that you don't give big second contracts to, or spend first-round picks on, running backs. And considering the pieces they currently have in place as well as their somewhat limited salary-cap situation, nowhere is that more true than in Dallas. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon