DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys are counting on Tony Pollard to lead the running game in 2023.
The Cowboys added another running back to the mix in Round 6 of the NFL draft on April 29 when they selected Kansas State's Deuce Vaughn.
The way coach Mike McCarthy sees it, Vaughn is no gadget player.
"I think clearly Deuce can play in the normal flow of our offense on first and second down," McCarthy said after the draft. "I think stating the obvious, as far as the protection component, we’ve got to work together there but there are some very distinct situational thoughts and concepts that I have in mind already."
McCarthy used the phrase "Randall Cobb-ish" relative to the "types of things [McCarthy has schemed] in the past" as the Green Bay Packers coach from 2006-18.
While Randall Cobb was paired up with McCarthy from 2011-18, the former second-round wideout from Kentucky caught 470 passes for 5,574 yards and 41 touchdowns.
Another comparison Vaughn drew from Cowboys owner, president, and general manager Jerry Jones was to Darren Sproles. Just an inch taller than Vaughn at 5-6, Sproles carved out a role on the San Diego Chargers' offense as a scat back who complemented All-Pro running back LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield.
Sproles was the perfect change of pace back, whose contributions were more frequent in the receiving game. Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was the Chargers' quarterbacks coach in 2005 when San Diego took Sproles in the fourth round.
Sproles, like Vaughn, played at Kansas State and reached out to the current torch-bearer of undersized backs.
"He said he was proud of me," Vaughn said via conference call April 29. "He said to keep the short backs alive. I told him I’d make him proud. At first when he said he was proud of me, he said that the work starts now and that everything’s out in front of me. I’ve just got to go work hard for it."
The one running back Vaughn patterns his game after is incidentally one of the key pieces that stymied the Cowboys in the postseason, the San Francisco 49ers' Christian McCaffrey, who Vaughn admires for his versatility.
"The way that he was able to run in between tight spaces, run the ball inside and outside," said Vaughn. "They split him out wide. Even coming out of high school, watching him and the way he was so versatile and just did everything; a true all-purpose back. He’s someone that I’ve always looked up to and watched film on just because of the way he’s been used."
Vaughn generated 4,884 scrimmage yards and 43 touchdowns through his last 37 games at Kansas State before ending his amateur career as a unanimous All-American.
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