While there are exceptions, itfeels like every mock draft you click on these days, as you scroll down to pick No. 12, you already know whose name will be there next to the Dallas Cowboys’ selection.

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.

It’s a match made in heaven. The Cowboys want to revamp the running game in Dallas and Brian Schottenheimer’s vision appears to need a quality running back. Ahead of March, getting pending free agent Rico Dowdle back isn’t even a guarantee.

In the meantime, Jeanty has let the NFL world know he would “love to play for the Cowboys,” not an uncommon statement from prospects headed to the pros yet a mediatic one.

However, as the NFL Draft approaches, I’m far from convinced the Cowboys picking Jeanty is a slam dunk. The likeliest choice? Perhaps. But are we 100% sure this front office will use a Top 15 pick on a running back? I believe a past decision from the decision-makers in Dallas suggests they won’t be automatically convinced of picking

Think about Tony Pollard last year. The Cowboys decided to pass on extending him after he put together back-to-back seasons of over 1,000 yards rushing and 300 yards receiving. Instead it was Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott leading a “running back by committee” approach.

Now granted, the expectations for Jeanty are for him to become more than a 1,300-yards-from-scrimmage player. The team that picks him expects him to become the next Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley. That much is clear. However, the shift from being the franchise that picked Zeke at No. 4 overall and later signed him to a $90 million deal to the one that let Pollard walk for a deal worth $7.25 million per year is significant.

It’s the sign of a football team that looks at the position differently. Keep in mind, the Tennessee Titans got Pollard for a three-year deal that they can easily get out of in 2026. In other words, keeping him would’ve been relatively easy for Dallas.