Memphis alumnus Pollard earning praise
Cowboys’ fourth-round pick shows off abilities at training camp
OXNARD, Calif. — Dak Prescott said Sunday that a running back was “one of the most exciting players, to me, of this training camp.”
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback wasn't referring to missing-in-action Ezekiel Elliott. Tony Pollard, whom Dallas drafted out of Memphis in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, continues to turn heads.
In a goal-line series during Sunday's intrasquad scrimmage, he leveraged blocks from Connor Williams and Travis Frederick to run through an open lane on his left. Ramping up his speed, he wrapped around the left side with safety Jeff Heath in pursuit. Touchdown.
It was the latest win for a rookie who has impressed in the run and pass game, as well as playing both ways on special teams.
“Pollard really showed the ability to plant quick, plant his feet and his quick feet,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after the scrimmage. “He is obviously about as smooth an athlete and certainly a running back. You saw the flexibility.
“If he continues to get better and better and better, which he's got to, I think you are going to see a guy who plays early for the Cowboys.”
With or without Elliott.
Sure, the Cowboys still hope and plan to have the league's rushing titleholder back for the Sept. 8 opener against the Giants. But first-year coordinator Kellen Moore's system has options to play two backs at a time. The organization envisions a tandem duo like New Orleans used in 2018 with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. Kamara raced to 883 yards and 14 touchdowns rushing, and he caught 81 passes for an additional 709 yards and four scores. Ingram totaled 915 yards from scrimmage and seven scores.
The Cowboys hope for a similar outlook. They see seventh-round draft pick Mike Weber as more of a complete runner who could back up Elliott. Pollard need not wait. In training camp, he has shared first-team snaps with Darius Jackson. And he has garnered praise off the field.
“When we're in the offense, we're in the offensive units, we're in the team meetings and Coach calls him out on his responsibility, without a hesitation he's getting it right,” Prescott said. “That's what you want to see from a young guy. That's what the players and coaches want to see, and he's been delivering.”
Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown has kept Pollard late after practices to help ensure he's comfortable with new concepts. By coach Jason Garrett's judgment, it's working.
“He's handled a lot of information on the offensive side of the ball…really well,” Garrett said Sunday. “He, too, is someone who continues to play fast. He doesn't look like he's not playing to his speed because he is thinking too much.”
Pollard played a limited role at Memphis behind Darrell Henderson, whom the Rams drafted in the third round this spring.
Henderson averaged more than 1,531 yards and 15 touchdowns a season for the Tigers in the last two years. Pollard was granted just 117 touches in 2018.
Despite that, he racked up 1,010 yards, averaging 7.1 yards per rush and 11.7 a reception. Pollard scored nine touchdowns on offense. And he excelled as a kick returner, averaging 30.1 yards per return in his career. In 2017, Pollard averaged 40 yards per kick return and scored on four.
Through a week of practice, the Cowboys have given Pollard reps both as a returner and in rushing the punter on special-teams drills.
“Coming out of school, he just was a football player,” Garrett said. “You saw it on tape. You saw him run inside. You saw him run outside. You saw him return kicks. He did a lot of different things.
“With all the young players, you try to expose them to different parts of your team. … At some point with those guys you say, ‘OK, let's focus more on this and less on this.' But he's a young player and we need to find out about him and how he can handle all these different situations.
“He's made a lot of strides in a week's time.”