Cowboys Meeting With Explosive Ole Miss RB Zach Evans: NFL Draft
The Ole Miss Rebels hosted their Pro Day yesterday, and hyper-efficient running back Zach Evans listed the Dallas Cowboys as a team that’s scheduled a meeting with him in the near future.
Should Dallas select Evans, it would represent a bit of a homecoming. Back in 2020, Evans was ranked as the top running back recruit in the state of Texas. He began his collegiate career as a TCU Horned Frog, rushing for 1,063 yards during his two seasons in Fort Worth on an astounding 7.3 yards per carry.
Entering his junior season, Evans transferred to Ole Miss, playing under Lane Kiffin in the SEC. In his lone season as a Rebel, Evans would record 936 rushing yards, averaging 6.5 yards per carry, while having 10 total touchdowns.
Having never received a full three-down workload in college, Evans will enter the league with "fresh tires," so to speak. In his three seasons of college ball, Evans had 320 touches, significantly less than his contemporary, Texas Longhorns rusher Bijan Robinson, who had 277 touches in his junior season alone.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranks him as a top-100 prospect … and Dallas has been open about wishing to Draft a runner.
On the Cowboys, Evans could eat into some of the available touches left by Ezekiel Elliott following the organization’s decision to release him. Fresh off of a season in which he split carries with SEC Freshman of the Year winner Quinshon Judkins, Evans could continue his supporting role behind Pro Bowl running back Tony Pollard.
During the NFL Combine, Evans measured in at 5-11, 202 pounds, but didn’t test athletically due to a minor hamstring injury. At Ole Miss’ Pro Day, Evans unofficially ran a 4.45 in the 40-yard dash, a 4.26 20-yard shuttle and finished the three-cone drill in 7.08 seconds. … All numbers that would have ranked among the top 10 running backs at the combine and support his game film, which displayed top-end speed and explosiveness.
Provided that Evans impresses during his meeting with Dallas, the Texas native could hear his name called as soon as Day 2 of the NFL Draft and become a staple of the Cowboys offense.
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