FRISCO — The NFL offseason is in full swing as the calendar moves into the middle of February. The coaching carousel has run its course and teams are gearing up for free agency beginning in March and the draft to follow soon after.
This is a significant period for all 32 teams, but an especially important time for the Dallas Cowboys as they have installed a new coaching regime that will likely have to replace a number of key contributors from last season's roster.
One of the areas of focus this offseason will be at running back, a position the Cowboys let fall to the wayside a year ago. Brian Schottenheimer's offense projects a heavy emphasis on the ground game, so that same strategy will be ill advised this time around.
It appears the draft will be the ideal place for Dallas to snag their running back of the future. A deep class at the position will give them options to best strategize serving that need while attacking the other holes on the roster.
However, Ashton Jeanty, widely believed to be the best running back prospect in the draft, is clamoring to be a Cowboy. Jeanty is a native of Frisco, Texas, playing his high school ball at Lonestar High School.
He has hinted in previous interviews his desire to return to his old stomping grounds and continued that homecoming campaign in an interview with former NFL head coach Jon Gruden.
Gruden asked him simply which city he would like to live in and play football, to which Jeanty replied, "I was just there a few years ago playing high school football...in [the] Ford Center, up there in Frisco, Texas... to be back in Dallas practicing in that facility again, playing in that facility again, that would be amazing."
Jeanty's requests have not devolved into demands or warnings for other teams not to draft him. But his not-so-subtle hints are pretty glaring signals for the Cowboys.
His efforts have reached the point where the question is becoming how could Dallas not take him first when it seems the match is so perfectly clear? Picking a running back early has its benefits and would signal an apparent "win now" move.
Granted, there are several players that will be on the board at pick No. 12 that will fit that description. None of them, however, have orchestrated these near Micah Parsons levels of Cowboys enthusiasm.
It will be a tough call for Dallas with no signs indicating their vision for the upcoming draft. But if Jeanty is there when they are on the clock, the idea of the young star getting his homecoming would be tough to pass on.
