3. Alfred Morris, RB
Ezekiel Elliott’s continued holdout led to the Cowboys bringing a familiar face into training camp in the form of veteran Alfred Morris. While rookie Tony Pollard is clearly the guy that Dallas is hitching their wagon to should Zeke, as he’s expected to, miss time in the regular season, the thought initially was that Morris would be one of the primary backups to Pollard.
Morris, however, has been used relatively sparingly throughout the preseason. In four exhibition games, the veteran received just eight carries. On top of that, he wasn’t particularly impressive with the touches that he did receive, managing a mere 24 yards and a touchdown. Additionally, Morris hasn’t contributed in the passing game in the preseason to this point.
Given that and the depth of running back on the Cowboys roster, he didn’t really do enough to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. But in case anyone is thinking that familiarity with the Cowboys organization and head coach Jason Garrett might save him, some other running backs in Dallas have stepped up and taken up the mantle, particularly Jordan Chunn.
While Chunn suffered an injury in the final preseason game, he’s been the most eye-catching running back outside of Pollard in the preseason. His prowess in the passing game has been particularly great, catching nine balls for 46 yards and a touchdown. That should be enough to get him off the practice squad and onto the 53-man squad.