Cowboys RB battle: Malik Davis is doing what he always does

The Dallas Cowboys first preseason game at the Seattle Seahawks made it clear who this offseason’s “pet cat” at wide receiver is, with Camden Brown hauling in two acrobatic touchdowns, but didn’t nearly provide the same clarity about the direction this team will go in the backfield beyond returning veteran starter Javonte Williams.

Jaydon Blue led the team in carries with eight but had the fewest rushing yards out of the RB group. Malik Davis and Israel Abanikanda both had seven carries, the former for a team-high 39 yards and latter for 36. Phil Mafah tried to get in on the action as well with his four carries, but then exited due to injury.

Dallas was off on Sunday when they returned to Oxnard, and then got back to work on Monday ahead of another joint practice/scrimmage opportunity against old friend Kellen Moore and the New Orleans Saints. In their first practice since the preseason win, it was reported that, seemingly based on what happened in that game, the Cowboys were going to adjust the depth chart accordingly and distribute reps differently.

Even well before an announcement like this was made by head coach Brian Schottenheimer, the reps and competition at running back has been closely monitored. The team is not looking for a new starter here with Javonte Williams back as the steady hand after a career year in 2025, and in the bigger picture are still positioned to have all 11 of last year’s offensive starters back in those roles.

This makes the playing time behind Williams in a RB2 or RB3 role one of the very few areas the Cowboys could have a new wrinkle in personnel on offense going into 2026. The fan-favorite player to see this playing time has been the year-two draft pick Blue, because on any given snap he has big-play potential that can create more game-breaking plays for this explosive offense. The best thing Blue did in this department against the Seahawks was take one of two screen pass attempts for 13 yards on the drive that ended in a field goal.

Not only were Blue’s rushing attempts a bit disappointing in Seattle though, unfortunately he also didn’t have a chance to continue getting valuable reps at Monday’s practice as he was out of team drills with a shoulder injury.

This positioned Malik Davis to do something he seemingly always finds a way to do since joining the team in 2022 and bouncing back and forth ever since. Take full advantage of the chance to get on the field, just like he did in the preseason test, and practice Monday as the primary backup to Williams.

Davis also benefited from both Mafah and Abanikanda being limited, but to say injuries in total were the only reason Davis saw these reps would also not be fair. The idea of a running back duo that complements each other with different skills is a fun one that fans still want to see manifest itself, but proven results trump all, and the Cowboys are seeing for the second year in a row of this offense that physical running between the tackles is still their best approach at the position.

Davis does this well, with plus burst and decisiveness at the line of scrimmage to make something out of nothing on many of his carries. This was a strength of Mafah’s as well earlier in camp, a real year-two development for the 2025 seventh-round pick to feel good about, but just for the moment the arrow is pointing down on Mafah as camp grinds on and the Clemson product has to fight his way back into the mix.

Projecting further down the line just for fun at the moment, let’s say Williams and Davis are the 1-2 punch at running back going into week one at the Giants. This duo may not light up the fantasy football score sheets or have a lot of casual fans fired up about what the Cowboys can bring out of the backfield, but it stands to be effective anyway.

The Dallas defense showed glimpses against the Seahawks of being the type of defense built to protect leads, a notion that got even more true after the team formally signed Von Miller on Monday as well. Besides the obvious of scoring points, the next best thing an offense can do to complement this type of defense (one that pitched a three and a half quarter shutout on Saturday) is control the clock and tempo of a game with their rushing attack.

Running between the tackles also gets a whole lot easier once defenses have to respect the perimeter threats of George Pickens, CeeDee Lamb, and Ryan Flournoy, and right now the Cowboys depth at RB is sorting itself out when it comes to which players do this best, and most consistently.

Having Williams is a great start in this department for the Cowboys, and if things keep going how they are in the RB competition beyond him, they’ll be looking up even more as Davis continues to capitalize on opportunity, and hopefully Mafah and Abanikanda get healthy.

The Cowboys offense will be out to prove against the Saints they’re in a better overall place than when Kellen Moore left them as the Saints come marching in on Tuesday, making this an even bigger day than Monday to keep an eye on what happens at the running back position.