Dallas Cowboys: What If They Picked Le’Veon Bell In 2013 NFL Draft?

The Dallas Cowboys landed All-Pro center Travis Frederick in the 2013 NFL Draft, but what if they’d also taken Le’Veon Bell instead of Gavin Escobar?

The Dallas Cowboys in the 2013 NFL Draft hit the jackpot when they drafted center Travis Frederick in the first round. But they never received any payoff from their second-round pick, Gavin Escobar from San Diego State, with the 47th overall pick that season. The pick was a hope to groom an eventual replacement for Jason Witten, who is still with the team and Escobar is not.

Now to play the “What If…” card with this pick. What if the Cowboys stayed drafting offense with the 47th overall pick, but decided to draft more depth at running back that season and not later in the draft like they eventually did? What if the Cowboys had selected running back Le’Veon Bell, who was drafted with the next pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers?

Think of how different both franchises would look today.

At the time, the Cowboys did have DeMarco Murray as their top running back. However, he was coming off a season in 2012 where he rushed for 663 yards on 161 carries in 10 games, sharing the ball with Felix Jones, who had 111 carries for 402 yards that season. In 2013, Murray broke out for 1,121 yards on 217 carries with nine touchdowns. Joseph Randle, whom the Cowboys selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft, rushed the ball 54 times for 164 yards and two touchdowns.

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Randle is no longer in the NFL and has had many off-field issues. Murray left the Cowboys via free agency a couple seasons ago and has since landed with the Tennessee Titans. Escobar did very little in four seasons with the Cowboys and recently signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

A lot of that could have looked much different if the Cowboys would have selected Bell instead of Escobar in the second round. Sure, Murray’s stats wouldn’t have been what they were, but with the offensive line the Cowboys were building at the time, they would have benefited from having two solid running backs split time. Plus Bell can open up an offense even better than Murray could.

Also, if Bell would have become a Cowboys draft selection that year, Randle wouldn’t have been selected in the fifth round by the Cowboys and they could have still drafted a quality tight end in Luke Willson from Rice, whom the Seattle Seahawks selected with the 25th pick of the fifth round.

Escobar finished his Cowboys career with 30 receptions (48 targets) for 333 yards and eight touchdowns in 62 games (seven starts). He averaged 11.1 yards per reception. In four seasons with the Seahawks, Willson played in 56 games for the Seahawks, where he’s caught 74 passes (115 targets) for 976 yards, averaging 13.2 yards per reception. He’s also caught seven touchdown passes. The Seahawks had much better value with their tight end pick from that season than the Cowboys got from Escobar.

Though it is tough to say if Bell would have become the player he is today if he had to share time with Murray, it is safe to say the Cowboys would have been a much better team with him on the roster, and today’s Cowboys team would have a different look as well.

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If the Cowboys had selected Bell and Murray would have still walked in free agency, would have the Cowboys still drafted Ezekiel Elliott last season, or would they have looked elsewhere? Most likely, if Bell would have been selected by the Cowboys back then, they wouldn’t have had a 4-12 season in 2015, and the Cowboys wouldn’t have had the fourth-overall pick in 2016, meaning there would have been no Elliott on the Cowboys. Maybe the defense would be in better shape right now than it currently is heading into the 2017 NFL Draft.

This one decision by the Cowboys to select Escobar over Bell (4,045 yards and 26 touchdowns in four seasons) changed how a lot of franchises look today. Would the Steelers have drafted Eddie Lacy in that second round if Bell wasn’t available? If so, who would have the Green Bay Packers selected in that same round?

Would the Cowboys still have Witten on their roster if they would have gone with Bell in Round 2 and Willson in Round 5? Would Tony Romo have been so prone to injury later in his career if Bell would have been there to rush the football and not force the Cowboys to be in a lot of passing situations?

Though Escobar didn’t work out for the Cowboys, and Bell has had an excellent career thus far with two 1,200-plus yard seasons, it isn’t a guarantee Bell would have been as successful with the Cowboys as he’s had off-the-field issues too. If teams knew what they know now, Escobar wouldn’t have been a second-round pick, Bell would have gone in the first round and Wilson would have been a solid second- or third-round choice too, not available in the fifth round.

Next: Cowboys: 5 Bold Predictions For The 2017 NFL Draft

Scenarios like this are what make the NFL Draft so exciting and great to watch for three days. Decisions this Thursday, Friday and Saturday by all teams will completely change how the NFL will look and change not only the future of the team making the draft choice, but change other teams’ futures as well.

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