A Year Later, Cowboys Still Looking for Their Young RB

Darren McFadden became the Cowboys' starting running back in 2015 after they failed to draft a runner

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sure sounds like a man who wants to draft a running back next month.

This week Jones indicated that the team had a back in mind in last year’s draft—when just about everyone assumed they’d draft a back to replace DeMarco Murray, and they didn’t—but he was taken out from under them. The good news is Jones is confident the Cowboys can find a running back in this year’s draft.

"I think that we really were surprised that we didn't have the younger back coming out of the draft last year," Jones said, per Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. "We had a plan and somebody else took him. We can have the same plan and more than likely we would have, in most years past, we'll get a chance to get a young running back through the draft."

Jones added that there would be some veteran free agents on the market that “probably deserve a look,” but that it’s more likely that they’ll address the position through the draft.

At the very least, Jones views running back as a more easily addressable need than those on defense.

"I feel better about our ability to get feeling good about running back than I do about some of the challenges that we've got on defense right now," Jones said. "I don't know. I can actually see ways and options at the running back thing to get us in good shape that I don't actually see ways and have the name in place for the spot relative to the defense."

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