Coming into a team like the Dallas Cowboys as a rookie is never easy. Especially as a running back in a year that the team has one of the best offensive units in the league. Jaydon Blue was picked in the fifth round, and there was not a lot of pressure on him to deliver last season, but that changes this season.

He recorded only 129 rushing yards and one touchdown on 38 carries in his rookie season. A massive offseason was needed to turn things around, and that is exactly what Blue had working hard in the OTAs and minicamp. As he gears up for Year 2, the player is confident about himself and ready to take on added responsibility with the franchise.

“The game has slowed down completely for me,” said Jaydon Blue, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “I just think I’m a completely different person than what I was at this time last year. I think it was just me looking myself in the mirror and (figuring out) why I wasn’t on the field like I should have been last year. Knowing how bad I want to be a part of this offense and how big of a piece I could be for this offense helped me out a lot. I think I made a 180 from where I was last year. I think I’ve gotten a lot better, whether that’s the football part, the physical part, my body, I feel really good. I’m just ready to go.”

When he arrived last season, the team had Miles Sanders, Hunter Luepke, Blue, Deuce Vaughn, Phil Mafah, and Malik Davis in the depth chart of the running backs room. Besides, the Cowboys also acquired Javonte Williams, who ended up being the starting RB in 2025. So, it was not until Week 5 that the former Texas RB got a taste of the NFL.

His season ended with him playing only five games and zero starts. Among the backups, it was fourth-year player Davis who had the best output with 52 carries for 250 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games. Blue knew that he needed to work on his game if he wanted to succeed in the league.

Following the OTAs and the minicamp, Blue is more “locked in,” highlighting a more mature and dedicated approach to the practice sessions. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer also claimed that there is a “night and day” difference between rookie and second-year Jaydon Blue.

“He’s doing great,” Schottenheimer said recently. “He came back with a different look than what he had his rookie year. I think most rookies have to figure it out. We had a very candid conversation at the exit interviews. We kind of put it all out there, put all the cards on the table. He didn’t like being inactive, and I was very honest with my opinion of why he wasn’t active.

“We had some really great conversations. He took that, he ingested it, took it in, and he’s come back with a great look on his face and a great work ethic. (His) intelligence is off the charts. I mean, the guy is football brilliant. He really is.”

The Cowboys have Javonte Williams as their RB choice. However, the race to be the backup is still very much open. While Blue has impressed in the minicamps and OTAs, he still has a lot to prove if he wants that role.

Jaydon Blue has a mountain to climb to earn his spot as a starter

In his first season in Dallas, Javonte Williams racked up a career-high 1,201 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 252 attempts. Subsequently, the Cowboys offered him a new three-year, $24 million contract in February.

Williams was one of the reasons why the Cowboys’ offense excelled last season. Because of his elite numbers, the running back barely participated in the OTAs and the minicamp. The HC wants to avoid taking risks with him. That being said, the Cowboys don’t want to put too much pressure on Williams.

“I think that is just very specific to group by group,” offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said recently. “There are some guys around this league that they are just totally good at taking 300-something carries or whatever per year. And there are guys that are going to be a lot better if you know exactly what their limits are.”

And one way that they can take some pressure off Williams is by developing another running back and playing a few snaps in his place. That is where Jaydon Blue comes in. Besides, it is not just Blue; Phil Mafah has also been attracting a lot of attention recently. The two of them were the standouts in the OTAs, scoring one touchdown each during the first open practice.

“Phil Mafah looked good with his first-team reps, grabbing a touchdown in red zone work, as did Jaydon Blue,” Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. “Mafah has specifically drawn a lot of praise for his work this offseason, with one source saying he is ‘night-and-day’ different from last year.”

Jaydon Blue essentially has Mafah and Davis to beat if he wants to lock the RB2  spot. The 22-year-old has done a good job so far in making his case. However, training camp will decide everything, and if he wants to see more playing time, Blue will have to showcase his ability to the coaching staff.