Ex-Cowboy urges Jerry Jones to draft Tony Dorsett-esque Ashton Jeanty

Former Cowboys guard Brian Baldinger believes that Boise State's running back Ashton Jeanty has a similar ceiling as legendary Tony Dorsett.

Ex-Cowboy urges Jerry Jones to draft Tony Dorsett-esque Ashton Jeanty

Ashton Jeanty (Image via IMAGO)

The Dallas Cowboys have always had great running backs behind their quarterbacks, and right now they need another one. Ashton Jeanty’s tape suggests that he has all the tools required to light up the backfield at Arlington for years.

In 2024, Jeanty’s numbers were off the charts. The Mountain West felt like a children’s playground. He led the entire college scene with 374 rushes with the ball for a ludicrous 2601 yards and 29 rushing touchdowns. It’s a shame that he came close to Barry Sanders’ college record and barely missed the milestone, but the numbers are impressive by themselves.

YouTube video

Former NFL guard who later switched to a full-time game analyst and athlete profile expert, Brian Baldinger, brushed up on his Jeanty knowledge recently. Baldinger, better known as Baldy to his colleagues at ESPN, pleaded to his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, that they should forget about every other player and target the Boise State wizard at 12.

Can you imagine Ashton Jeanty lining up next to Dak Prescott, and you throw a screen [pass] to him and… he stiff-arms, a burst, and a touchdown. Can you imagine you playing—it doesn’t matter. You’re playing the Eagles, and they try to overload blitz you, and they send a free hitter right at Dak, and the safety valve is Jeanty. You just gotta get the [ball] out of your hands and this guy adjusts to the ball like any receiver in this whole draft and he finishes in the paint. He’s a point scorer.

Brian Baldinger said while evaluating Ashton Jeanty’s tape

Brian Baldinger compares Ashton Jeanty to great Cowboys RBs

The Cowboys have always drafted great running backs. From Tony Dorsett to Emmitt Smith and Ezekiel Elliott, the Cowboys backfield always had the star effect that every football team dreams about. However, the situation has changed in recent seasons.

Ex-Cowboy urges Jerry Jones to draft Toney Dorsett-esque Ashton Jeanty
Ashton Jeanty (Image via IMAGO)

The last couple of seasons were not a good sight for the sore eyes. If undrafted free agent Rico Dowdle hadn’t rushed for 1000 yards, then winning even seven games would have been difficult. Dowdle is no longer around in Dallas, and the Cowboys brought in a couple of veteran stopgaps, Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders.

Jeanty has that wow factor that has been missing. His athleticism and game sense scream that he can be the next elite Cowboys running back.

The Cowboys have always been driven by star running backs. Dorsett in 77 comes on board, they win a Super Bowl. Emmitt in ’90—two years later they win Super Bowls [and] go three in four years, and his winning the rushing title every year… [Ashton] Jeanty is special. He’s part Dorsett, his part Emmitt. Remember when they drafted Zeke, they win 13 games—he took them to the big heights that year.

Brian Baldinger added

What Baldinger is trying to say is that whenever the Cowboys draft a running back in the first round, they go on to be legendary. Jeanty looks and feels like the player who has that Dorsett and Smith aura in him.

Cowboys columnist Mickey Spagnola wants to see the Dallas organization do something about the running back position.

They should follow their history and not leave this position to chance. And for goodness sakes, let’s not hear any of this socialized running back by committee business. This needs to be a dictatorship.

Mickey Spagnola wrote

The Cowboys have three early-round picks: 12, 44, and 76. Jeanty is expected to be off the board before that. The smartest option for Jerry Jones would be to trade up and draft Jeanty, a Frisco native who has previously stated his desire to wear the star.

Playing for Lone Star, I had a star on my helmet as well, so it would be a dope moment if that were to happen…The culture, the history, the city, everything that comes with playing for the Dallas Cowboys, I think, would be special.

Ashton Jeanty said (H/T: Dallas Cowboys official transcript)

What if the Cowboys miss out on Ashton Jeanty?

Jeanty is among the three (maybe four) elite players in the draft this season. Any team that wants a running back is gunning for him, and the Las Vegas Raiders are first in the queue (sixth overall pick). If the Vegas crew makes their move and takes Jeanty, the Cowboys have to go for another player.

Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd, in his mock draft, linked UNC’s Omarion Hampton as a good alternative. In Cowherd’s book, Hampton is the poor man’s Adrian Peterson.

It’s extremely rare for a team to draft a running back in the first round, let alone in the top 10. The New York Giants were the last to do it. In 2018, they selected Penn State’s Saquon Barkley. The gamble paid off, but after Saquon left New York for Philly, where he won a ring in 2024-25 with the Eagles.

Related: 3 reasons why the 2025 NFL season will be ‘make or break’ for Joe Burrow