As the Dallas Cowboys began their offseason process, one of the most glaring issues was the running back position. They had a chance to go after three-time All-Pro Derrick Henry. It made perfect sense because Henry is training in Dallas during the offseason, and he has the same agent as Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. However, according to team owner Jerry Jones, the team could not afford Henry even though his deal was only for two years and $16 million with nine million in dollars guaranteed.

There was the possibility of bringing back Tony Pollard as well. He ended up signing with the Tennessee Titans two days after Henry went to Baltimore, leaving the Cowboys in first place. Then there was the NFL draft in April. Most thought the Cowboys would definitely draft a running back at some point. Surprisingly, the Cowboys didn’t pick one up, and instead signed Nathaniel Peat as an undrafted free agent. So when the season started, Dallas was single-minded in their committee approach for the running back spot with Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle as the top two horses.

Needless to say, the running back experiment has failed in the first three weeks. Dallas ranks 30th in the league in rushing at 73.7 yards per game, and their average of 3.6 yards per rush ranks 29th. Dowdle, who leads the team in rushing, currently has 88 yards for the year. Elliott has amassed just 62 yards. The former has a season length of 10 yards, and the latter’s largest gain is nine yards. To make matters worse, the longest run of the year by a Cowboys player is 12 yards, and that came from wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. That’s not ideal at all.

This isn’t a knock on Dowdle or Elliott. Both have certain skills that can add value to a team, such as Elliott who is an effective short-yardage and goal-line runner. However, neither of them, nor any of the Cowboys’ runners, is a game changer. There is not one man who sows fear in the opponent’s defense. To make matters worse, the Cowboys lack any creativity in their run scheme. There is no pre-snap motion or anything to confuse the defense. So there’s no way for them to take advantage of something these guys can do consistently well. It’s just passing the ball into the A or B hole and hoping for the best. It feels very generic.

What makes matters even more frustrating is the organization’s refusal to resolve this issue. The aforementioned Jones stated that he likes where the Cowboys are, and he sees no roster upgrades being made. That’s just football abuse on Dallas’ part. Besides running back, there are defensive tackles and wide receiver issues that are glaring. There’s just no point in having those kinds of thoughts.

The Cowboys are basically saying they’re just going to use everything they have on the field at running back and hope for the best. It’s annoying and disturbing that Dallas chooses this path to team building. It can’t just be a draft where you push all your chips to the table. Unfortunately, that’s the Cowboys way, and the players have to win regardless, which is extremely difficult.