If you want to know one thing that can derail a promising rookie season before it even gets started, it’s any kind of injury or any kind of missed time. No matter how small.
Every rep is magnified when you don’t know really know what you’re doing, but in the case of Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Jaydon Blue, there might be more on the line.
That’s because Blue, a 2025 fifth round pick (No. 149 overall) has been in the running to be the starting running back for the Cowboys to start the regular season. Now, those plans might be on pause after he injured his ankle during practice on August 7.
The Cowboys open the preseason at the Los Angeles Rams on August 9 — a game Blue almost certainly won’t play in after his injury.
“Blue spun to the ground awkwardly after defensive end Sam Williams grabbed Blue’s facemask,” Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams wrote on August 7. “He remained on the ground before taking a cart to the injury tent and later was escorted to the training room. Blue returned to the practice field in street clothes.”
Blue Recently Earned First Team Offense Reps
Blue’s ascension at Cowboys training camp continued on July 30 as he picked up his first reps with the first team offense and gained traction to be a Day 1 starter over free agent additions Miles Sanders and Javonte Williams.
“For the first time on Wednesday, rookie running back Jaydon Blue took first team reps with the offense alongside Dak Prescott,” Tommy Yarrish wrote on the official Cowboys web site. “For the most part, Blue was running with the second team, but made the jump today and had a couple carries up the middle. Miles Sanders and Javonte Williams were also still taking first team reps, but clearly Blue has done enough for this coaching staff to give him his first shot.”
Blue scored 18 touchdowns in 3 seasons at Texas — 11 rushing and 7 receiving — and ESPN’s Mike Clay called him the “Wild Card” for the Dallas offense in 2025.
“Blue will begin his career behind newly acquired veterans Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, but neither have played well in recent seasons, so this depth chart is wide open,” Clay wrote on May 16. “The lead back role in Dallas is there for the taking.”
Without Blue, Dallas Turns to Williams and Sanders
Blue has seemed like an enticing option because he’s a rookie … and because of his 4.35 second speed in the 40-yard dash.
More importantly, he’s not Williams or Sanders.
While Williams led the Denver Broncos in rushing 3 of the last 4 years, he hasn’t seemed like the same player since a catastrophic knee injury in 2022 and averaged 3.7 yards per carry in 2024. Despite that, the Cowboys still went after him with a 1-year, $3 million free agent contract.
Sanders, who signed a 1-year, $1.3 million free agent contract on March 14, rushed for over 1,200 yards and made the Pro Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022. He signed a 4-year, $25 million free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers before the 2023 season and has only rushed for 637 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 2 years since, including an average of just 3.8 yards per carry.
