rey Lance #19 of the Dallas Cowboys huddles with teammates against the Washington Commanders (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
DeMarcus Ware very well believes the Dallas Cowboys need to improve their “ground and pound” game with their No. 12 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Cowboys great and Hall of Fame pass rusher stresses the need for Dallas to improve in the rushing department, something he says has been lacking for the last three years. It especially lacked last season when the Cowboys ranked 29th in rushing yards and dead last in rushing touchdowns.
“I go back to the characteristic of ground and pound,” says Ware in a one-on-one interview with RG. “Whatever player at that position is the best, if it’s offensive line, get him. If it’s a running back, get him. Whatever is going to help out your ground-and-pound game, because that’s what’s been missing for the last three years, we haven’t had that.”
The bottom finally fell out last season. After ranking 22nd in rushing yards in 2022 and 16th in 2023, the Cowboys were one of the worst, if not the worst rushing team in the NFL. Much of that had to do with their unwillingness to address the running back position, instead relying on former undrafted free agent Rico Dowdle and a past-his-prime Ezekiel Elliott to carry the rushing attack.
That strategy obviously blew up in the Cowboys’ faces and was part of the reason for their downfall last season, going 7-10 after three consecutive 12-win seasons.
Drafting Impact Players
“At number 12, if somebody is going to come in, the best at that number 12 position is with that ground and pound game,” says Ware. “It’s easy to draft those defensive guys, but we got to have that. If there’s a good running back there, go and get it, but we got to start there.”
There won’t be any shortage of quality running backs in this year’s draft, with Dallas area native Ashton Jeanty as the top back in the draft and names such as Omarion Hampton, TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins potentially available in the first and second rounds.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” says Ware of Jeanty.
“When you have a guy that can come in and make an immediate impact, that’s going to be what we need. To be honest with you, I don’t know exactly what we need with the Cowboys, but I know that we need a spark. Something that’s going to really ignite that fire that we need, and then go from there.”
Ware stresses the need for a run game to give quarterback Dak Prescott the ability to run the play-action pass—something that was not available last season.
“That’s where it starts as an offensive minded team, controlling the trenches,” says Ware. “Control the chains and the time of the game. Now it opens up for the big plays that we were used to seeing with that. He didn’t have a play-action game last year. It was more the quick stuff, and that’s different.
“We want to be able to run that football, move those chains, get those linebackers to come up thinking that it’s going to be run, and so now you can throw the ball deep,” Ware continues to say. “That’s the game that we were missing, and we need to see that back.”
Potential Trades to Bolster Roster
The nine-time Pro Bowler once again hammers home the need to improve the “ground-and-pound” game in order for the Cowboys to return to playing at an elite level. He even mentions the possibility of Dallas trading to add an extra pick to their arsenal, something they’ve done often in the Jerry Jones era.
The Cowboys have had 72 draft-day trades since 1989.
DeMarcus Ware Partnering With Crown Royal To Honor Veterans At 2025 NFL Draft
Ware is partnering up with Crown Royal and the Bob Woodruff Foundation to honor 32 veterans and service members heading into the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The partnership will see those veterans honored in a special ceremony leading into the first round of the draft at the inaugural “Hall of Heroes” event as part of the NFL’s Salute to Service initiative.
“This is the first time that they’re doing it at the draft, and it’s so cool to now let the military get the vibe and the feel of what it feels like to be the best,” says Ware of the event. “When you think about the Hall of Fame and Hall of Heroes class, these are going to be the first that’s going to do it and there’s going to be many more after this. They’re going to do that at the draft and just to honor the vets from 32 teams that have done the most in their community.”
DJ Siddiqi
