gs. CRUEL DECISION: Schottenheimer Drops BOMBSHELL Decision on Cowboys’ Rookie Playmaker Ahead of Week 9.
In a stunning twist that’s sending shockwaves through the Dallas Cowboys’ locker room and fanbase alike, rookie running back Jaydon Blue has been abruptly benched for the team’s crucial Week 9 showdown against the Arizona Cardinals. The fifth-round steal out of Texas, once hailed as a speed demon with breakout potential, finds himself demoted just as he was starting to carve out a role in the backfield. Citing inconsistency and a critical fumble, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer dropped the bombshell during Friday’s press conference, paving the way for veteran backup Malik Davis to step into the RB2 spotlight.
The move comes at a pivotal moment for a Cowboys squad that’s been grinding through injuries and aiming to stay afloat in the NFC East race. Blue, who dazzled scouts with a blistering 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, was supposed to inject explosiveness into Dallas’ ground game. But after a slow start to the season—sitting as a healthy scratch through all of September—the 22-year-old finally got his shot following RB2 Miles Sanders’ season-ending knee injury in early October. What followed, however, was a series of underwhelming performances that have left coaches questioning his readiness for the NFL’s unforgiving stage.
Since his debut against the New York Jets on October 5, Blue has mustered just 65 yards on 22 carries, averaging a paltry 3.0 yards per rush. The low point came in Week 8’s gritty battle against the Denver Broncos, where Blue coughed up a fumble in the third quarter on a bone-crunching hit that exposed his ball-security woes. Schottenheimer didn’t mince words when addressing the miscue and Blue’s broader body of work, emphasizing the rookie’s need to elevate his game amid the league’s heightened physicality.
“Jaydon was inconsistent in the game,” Schottenheimer said bluntly. “He did some really good things, but there were some other things he’s got to do at a higher level. The fumble was a good hit, but he’s got to be able to hold onto the ball. And actually, our combination block was supposed to come off to it and it didn’t, so again, that’s a blocking issue. But again, he can continue to play and emphasize playing more and more physical with and without the ball. That’s real.”
The coordinator didn’t stop at critique, though—he pointed Blue toward a blueprint for success in the form of star RB1 Javonte Williams, who’s been a model of reliability since his own rookie days. “That’s a young back learning the speed of the game, the physicality of the game,” Schottenheimer continued. “But to me, I am always going to go back to the consistency. You can’t put the ball on the ground, you have to be on top of your blitz pickups, you have to do those things. The big thing I have told him about, you’ve got the perfect guy sitting right to your left in Javonte to learn from. (He) was you a couple years ago as a young rookie trying to figure things out, and lean on him. Javonte does everything right.”
But the real eyebrow-raiser—and the clearest signal of Blue’s impending benching—came when Schottenheimer pivoted unprompted to praise Malik Davis. The veteran, who’s logged a mere five snaps all season, suddenly emerged as a focal point in the depth chart shuffle. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about Malik Davis and the job he is doing for us,” Schottenheimer declared. “We’re all about creating competition, it’s not just creating competition on the defensive side of the ball and who’s gonna play. It’s on the offensive side as well. And that would be another battle to watch.”
It’s a battle Blue appears to have lost, at least for now. Davis, a 2022 undrafted free agent who’s bounced around practice squads before latching on with Dallas, brings a steadier hand and veteran savvy to the table. At 25 years old, he’s no stranger to earning reps the hard way, and this opportunity could be his ticket to a more permanent role. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy echoed Schottenheimer’s sentiments in a separate briefing, stressing that the decision was about “protecting the football and rewarding preparation” over raw talent.
Blue’s college tape told a different story. At Texas, the versatile playmaker was a Swiss Army knife out of the backfield, racking up 730 rushing yards on 133 carries while adding 368 receiving yards on 42 catches in his final season. He even shone in the postseason, exploding for 146 yards and two touchdowns in a playoff thriller over Clemson. But the shine faded quickly in the College Football Playoff’s later rounds, where he managed just 20 yards on eight carries across the quarterfinals and semifinals—foreshadowing the adaptation struggles that have plagued him in Dallas.
Drafted in the fifth round as a value pick, Blue’s elite speed was supposed to mask any early hiccups. Instead, his work ethic and attention to detail drew early ire from coaches upon reporting to camp. “We saw the tools, but the polish wasn’t there,” one anonymous Cowboys assistant told reporters last summer. Now, with the bench serving as his classroom, Blue’s path to redemption looks steeper than ever.
For the Cowboys, facing a Cardinals defense that’s been leaky against the run, this shift could prove stabilizing—or a symptom of deeper backfield woes. Williams remains the unquestioned workhorse, but with Sanders sidelined and Blue on ice, Dallas will lean heavily on Davis to provide spark without the drama. As Schottenheimer put it, competition breeds excellence. Whether Blue seizes the lesson and bounces back remains the million-dollar question.
