Inside Cowboys RB Battle: What’s Game 1 Plan?

The Dallas Cowboys have a host of options when it comes to who will back-up Tony Pollard. Ronald Jones, Deuce Vaughn, Rico Dowdle, Malik Davis, and Hunter Luepke are all vying for roster spots and snaps.

With the grind of training camp well and truly hitting home in Oxnard - and then with Saturday’s preseason opener against visiting Jacksonville (4 p.m. at AT&T Stadium), this is the time when players separate themselves from the competition. For Malik Davis, the current crop of backs is working together well thus far.

“I feel like it’s pretty good,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of competition. We got some older guys in there that are taking care of the younger guys, so I think it’s coming along pretty well.”

Davis saw some game time last season, as he had 38 carries for 161 yards and a touchdown. We saw flashes of his talent, but it was in a limited capacity behind Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott.

But now, with Elliott no longer with the team, Davis knows what it could potentially mean for him.

“I feel like I have more opportunities to make plays,” Davis said. “Better opportunity to help my team win games and to be able to be on the field a little more this year.”

With Pollard now the leader of the running back room, there have been glowing words coming out of preseason thus far. Coach Mike McCarthy has called Pollard's leadership "outstanding" as he had adjusted to his new role in the team with aplomb.

Pollard is now entering his fifth year in the NFL, while Davis is in his second, and the former Florida standout has learned a lot simply by watching how Pollard goes about his business in Oxnard.

“I’ve been able to learn from him on and off the field,” Davis said. “He carries himself like a professional at all times. Off the field, just being in the playbook, taking care of your body and on the field, going 100 (percent) every play, just being detailed in everything.”

The Cowboys have no reason to play Pollard on Saturday. But the other guys, including Jones, who is still eligible with the club now while planning to be suspended for the first two weeks of the regular season? McCarthy has openly dismissed the idea of re-signing Zeke because he wants to see this group perform … and succeed.

So the running back battle will continue well into the preseason with the teachings from Pollard and being able to draw on his experiences from last season - and it might be Davis who catapults himself into calculations, and come Week 1 of the regularl season, he could be in business.