BE.Tony Pollard who? Cowboys may have found the ‘upgraded version’ – more stable, more powerful!
Dallas Cowboys, Javonte Williams | Cooper Neill/GettyImages
After two dismal seasons in a row with the Denver Broncos, the Dallas Cowboys took a pretty big risk making Javonte Williams their presumptive RB1 heading into the 2025 season. Even at the age of 25, the former second-round pick has struggled badly enough over the past couple of years that it was reasonable to be concerned about the Cowboys putting too much on his plate.
As it turns out, Williams may have just needed a change of scenery.
He’s been running like we saw back in his rookie season with the Broncos, when it looked like he was on his way to becoming one of the best young backs in the league. And the way Williams has stabilized the Dallas Cowboys’ backfield has given the team their most reliable featured back since Tony Pollard. In the case of Williams, an even more reliable version of a featured back.
Javonte Williams is giving the Cowboys exactly what they needed at running back
Through the first three games of the season, Williams has 227 rushing yards and is on pace for nearly 1,300 yards on the ground. He’s averaging a touchdown per game at this point and could be on track to eclipse 1,500 yards from scrimmage for the first time in his NFL career.
Most importantly, what we’re seeing Williams do in terms of creating yards after contact is more in line with his North Carolina tape and his rookie year in Denver than the past couple of seasons post-knee surgery. In fact, his 2.8 yards after contact per rushing attempt would easily beat his stellar rookie season in which he was averaging 2.3.
If he keeps at this pace, he’d have 686 yards after contact by the end of the season, which would have ranked fourth in the entire league last season.
Signing just a one-year deal in Dallas, and for a very team-friendly $3 million deal, it’s clear that everyone was aware of the risk involved in this move, including Williams himself having some self awareness in the situation. He averaged 1.9 yards after contact per attempt in Denver over the past two seasons where he had more than 350 total carries.
It’s not like it was a small sample size to be worried about. There was a very real concern that Williams would never return to form, but Dallas has unlocked the beast within.
So what does Tony Pollard have to do with any of this?
Well, when Pollard was in Dallas, his yards after contact went way down when he took over the featured back role, a drop from 2.6 yards after contact per attempt in 2022 to 2.0 in 2023 when the volume went up. Williams is blowing that number out of the water at the moment, but he’s also one of the best pass-protecting backs in the game.
There’s a reason he was a second-round pick beyond just his ability to break tackles. He’s well-rounded, and when he is breaking tackles, he’s got the chance to be a true top-5 back in the league.
