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Emmitt Smith Offers Dire Prediction if Ashton Jeanty Is Drafted By Cowboys

Strong words from a former Cowboys great.

Kyle Koster

Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (2) against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium.
Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (2) against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Radio Row is a magical place where former Dallas Cowboys great Emmitt Smith can end up joining Maggie and Perloff to talk about what America's Team will do in the upcoming draft. One of the organization's options is to snatch up Heisman Trophy runnerup Ashton Jeanty to make their backfield exciting again.

Smith offered a word of warning should that happen.

"If he comes to the Cowboys right now, he's going to get beat up," Smith said. "I don't think we're ready. We don't have the right mindset. We don't have the right commitments. I think we are drafting exciting pieces. Exciting pieces that will get fans 'oh, we got Ashton Jeanty, oh we're going to be able to run the ball.' Okay, you try to tell me Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle could not carry that team? No. There was no commitment to run the football."

Smith talked about the change the Cowboys made after Dak Prescott went down with an injury, tasking Cooper Rush with more underneath passes and leanining more on the ground game.

"Need to do that the whole entire year," he said. "That's the formula that I'm talking about. Quit trying to do what everyone else is doing in the National Football League. Your quarterback is not Patrick Mahomes. He's not Josh Allen. He's not Joe Burrow. He's Dak Prescott."

Dallas is coming off a lost season and has made significant changes. It will be interesting to see if they take the advice of their most prolific rusher.

Jeanty, for his part, proved to be durable and capable of being a workhorse during his time at Boise State, so if there's any back that can handle all that comes with donning the star on his helmet, it might be him.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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