The Dallas Cowboys had their eyes on Jaylen Wright in the lead-up to the 2024 NFL Draft, with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler revealing that the team “really liked” the prospect and “would have jumped on him” given a fourth-round opportunity. Unfortunately for Dallas, their chance to pick in the fourth round was lost when they traded the pick to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for quarterback Trey Lance in August of the previous year.

When Wright was still on the board, the Cowboys only had a late fifth-round pick available, a position from which Wright was never likely to be available. Instead, the Miami Dolphins made a bold move to secure Wright’s services. Despite not starting Day 3 of the draft with a fourth-round selection either, the Dolphins highly valued Wright and decided to trade a 2025 third-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for the 120th overall pick in 2024 to draft him.

This proactive maneuver by Miami underscores a missed opportunity for the Cowboys, who have experienced instability in their backfield. Dallas previously depended extensively on Ezekiel Elliott, who received 2,300 touches over seven seasons. However, after Elliott’s average per carry dwindled to 3.8 yards in 2022, the Cowboys moved on from him in a bid to free up salary cap space and placed their bets on Tony Pollard as his successor.

Pollard’s performance as the lead back in 2023, however, fell short of expectations, as he only managed just below 4.0 yards per attempt before he entered free agency. With no fresh running back talent acquired in the draft, Dallas opted to re-sign Elliott, despite his underwhelming performance of just 37.8 rushing yards per game with the New England Patriots last season.

Now, Elliott is poised to reclaim his starting role in 2024, marking a full circle moment for the Cowboys’ backfield strategy and illuminating the paths not taken that could have potentially reshaped their ground game.