Patrik Walker

FRISCO, TexasThe wait is over on Day 3 for the Dallas Cowboys, and it was a long ride to their clock starting with the 149th-overall pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. They lacked a fourth-round pick by virtue of sending it to the Carolina Panthers last season in exchange for former second-round pick Jonathan Mingo and, as such, saw a run on positions like running back one that remains a need with seven selections remaining for Dallas.

And based on how the draft has now fallen heading into the fifth round, the Cowboys have made the call to pull the trigger and select ...

Round 5: Jaydon Blue, RB, Texas

Jaydon Blue

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RB

• Height: 5-9
• Weight: 196 lbs
• College: Texas

Things to know:

- Texas-born (native of Houston)

- Four-star recruit

- Turned down offers from LSU, Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma

Scouting Report + Fit:

Blue enters a room of running backs that are in need of assistance, to say the least, having already signed both Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders in free agency to try and aid in efforts to not only resolidify the depth chart, particularly after losing Rico Dowdle to free agency, but to hopefully upgrade it overall.

The former Longhorn is explosive, and that's not hyperbole. His ability to change directions routinely puts defenders on skates in open space, a testament to his quickness and ability plant and go, but his overall speed can also be a problem for those hoping they can chase him down from behind once he is off to the races a sub-4.40s 40-yard dash proving that point fairly readily.

Something else of note with Blue is his willingness to lower his pads to both absorb but, better still, to push through contact in the trenches, whenever it meets him in the A or B gap, and also provides an option as a receiver out of the backfield. His best collegiate season arrived for the Longhorns in 2024, when he amassed 1,098 total yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns (730 rushing yards, 368 receiving yards), making him a formidable option for Dak Prescott and offensive play caller/head coach Brian Schottenheimer behind a rebuilt offensive line.

Don't pencil him in as a bell cow, though, and he will need to improve his ball protection to avoid a fumbling issue at the NFL level, where defenders are uniquely honed to punch the ball free. But giving a strong effort in pass protection, as he often does, along with some value on special teams as an insurance policy goes to additional reasons as to why Blue is making the trip from Austin to Dallas to begin his NFL career.