The Cowboys weren’t shy about their desire to add a running back in the draft to lighten the load on starter DeMarco Murray.
They got that running back in the fifth round when they drafted Joseph Randle with the 151st overall pick and the team announced Monday that he’s agreed to a contract. Randle put up huge numbers in Oklahoma’s State wide-open offense and the Cowboys have already started talking about him as the heavy favorite for the backup role over Lance Dunbar and Phillip Tanner.
Complicating matters on that front could be a thumb injury that will limit Randle’s activities between now and training camp. The team knew that Randle had surgery and owner Jerry Jones said that they think Randle will benefit from the offseason program even if he can’t take part in everything.
“It’s certainly a restriction on his thumb, but I think candidly there are a lot of things we can do out here in OTAs and get that thumb clubbed up and he’ll get a lot of work in, a lot of valuable repetition,” Jones said, via Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Assuming all that goes according to plan, it’s a good bet that Randle will be the No. 2 in the Cowboys backfield come September.