DeMarco Murray

Cowboys beat writer Bob Sturm on RB Joseph Randle:

I think Randle is capable for sure, but I also wonder about his ability to go from 5 snaps a game to 30 and maintain his impressive quickness and conviction on each play. I also wonder if he is trusted in pass protection and short yardage. If not, he is going to likely be the #1 option on normal run downs 1st and 2nd down, and then give way to Darren McFadden/Lance Dunbar (I assume) on 3rd downs.

[The Cowboys coaches] seem to wonder about his ability to “do it all” or just able to handle one thing over and over. There is also a level of distrust about his maturity and dependability as a professional athlete that he has to earn back to ever fully realize his potential on the field.

That said, he has impressive tools and a chance to play behind a line that does much of the work themselves. It would be a shame not to take advantage of that. There is no reason for us to rule him out as a RB1 candidate in the fall.

Sturm does a fantastic job of breaking down Randle's 2014 campaign, even offering "tape" of 11 different plays in which Randle showed one thing or another. McFadden is going ahead of Randle in early drafts, but we feel Randle is be the better bet. He was highly effective (6.7 YPC) in 2014 and is reportedly showing more maturity after several off-the-field issues. He's not going to see a DeMarco Murray-type workload, but 225-250 carries is feasible if he wins the lead back job.