Whatever University of Texas running back Jaydon Blue thought about waiting until the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft to hear his name called, once he saw who picked him it’s fair to say all his other concerns faded away.
The first reason was the team that picked him — the Dallas Cowboys — which we assume is a pretty desirable destination for a player born and raised in Texas and who played college football in Texas.
Another reason, and perhaps the one that matters most, is that the Cowboys have the depth of a kiddie pool at running back and those carries are up for grabs in a big way.
Dallas is without its leading rusher from 2024 in Rico Dowdle, who left for the Carolina Panthers in free agency. The Cowboys signed their own free agent running back in Javonte Williams on a 1-year, $3 million contract, but he’s not someone an offense can or should build a running game around.
NFL.com’s Chad Reuter put Blue at No. 1 on his list of Day 3 picks who could compete for starter snaps in 2025.
“The Cowboys might begin the year with starting reps going to veteran back Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, but Blue should have a chance to be the guy for the Blue-and-Silver by midseason,” Reuter wrote on May 5. “The Texas product’s home run-hitting ability as a runner and receiver makes it imperative that he’s on the field.”
Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder put Blue at the top of his list of “Sleeper” running backs who could start for their teams as rookies.
Blue has Chance to Emulate Bucs’ Irving in 2025
The best rookie running back in the NFL in 2024 was also a mid-to-late round pick in Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Bucky Irving, who was selected in the fourth round (No. 125 overall) out of Oregon and rushed for 1,122 yards despite not becoming the starter until late in the season.
That’s the template Blue and every rookie running back will try and follow in 2025.
Both NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein and Bleacher Report both projected Blue as a third round pick after his breakout season in 2024, when he had a career high 1,098 yards from scrimmage and scored 14 touchdowns as the Longhorns advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Blue, 5-foot-9 and 196 pounds, did the main thing he needed to do in the pre-draft process when he ran the 40-yard dash in a blazing, 4.38 seconds at the NFL scouting combine.
“The buzz around #Cowboys RB Jaydon Blue is starting to build,” Brandon Loree of Blogging With the Boys wrote on his official account on May 5. “With no clear cut starter, there’s a chance he gets starting snaps as soon as this season.”
“Jaydon Blue has so much more juice than anyone else in Dallas’s RB room,” X user @TreyK_FB wrote on April 28.
“The position looks wide open, and Blue — the youngest and most talented back on the roster — is in a prime spot,” X user Fantasy Football Anonymous wrote on their official account. “I don’t know exactly when, but I’m confident Jaydon Blue will take over as the Cowboys’ primary ball carrier before the season is over.”
