Cowboys’ hiring of OC Klayton Adams makes one thing clear about future of Dallas’ offense

The Cowboys hiring Klayton Adams as their offensive coordinator on Friday didn’t generate the negative backlash that Brian Schottenheimer did a week ago, and for good reason.

While Schottenheimer has the resume to become a head coach — and is a risk, as Jerry Jones mentioned several times in the past week — the move to Adams means something else: Running the football is a priority.

Now every offensive coach says that, and Mike McCarthy mentioned it when he took over for Kellen Moore two years ago as the play caller.

With Schottenheimer as the offensive play caller and with the run schemes Adams used with the Arizona Cardinals in his two seasons as the offensive line coach, this might be a good fit.

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In 2024, Arizona finished 7th in rushing yards (2,451) and yards per game (144.2). The previous season, the Cardinals were fourth in rushing yards (2,365) and yards per game (139.1).

The problem with all this success in Arizona is that Dallas doesn’t have a lead running back for the 2025 season or a quarterback that moves.

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Quarterback Kyler Murray rushed for 816 yards in two seasons with Adams as the offensive line coach while they produced 4,816 rushing yards.

Murray played in just eight games in 2023 after suffering a torn ACL. As we all know, Dak Prescott isn’t running around like Murray.

James Conner produced 2,134 rushing yards from the running back position in those same two seasons.

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Rico Dowdle, who led the Cowboys in rushing, becomes a free agent in March. His return is uncertain.

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The NFL draft is a place where the Cowboys can obtain a running back.

We’ve seen the Cowboys seek running backs before, hoping to select one on Day 2 of the draft where rounds two and three occur.

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Nothing happened.

This year, a kid from Frisco would love to earn some paychecks with a star on the side of his helmet. Ashton Jeanty, the running back from Boise State, is a first-round graded player entering a football league where running the ball is fashionable again.

The Cowboys draft No. 12 overall and well.

If you want to emphasize the run game and take pressure off Prescott and receiver CeeDee Lamb, getting a quality running back seems prudent.

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It’s great to have a good scheme but if you don’t have the players it means next to nothing. Outside of finding the running back, we’re not sure if the offensive line is settled for next season.

Left tackle Tyler Guyton, the first-round pick from 2024, had some disappointments in his rookie season with health being a concern.

Will McClay, the Cowboys vice president of player personnel, said he expects Guyton to play better in 2025. But at what position?

Should Guyton move to right tackle where the current starter Terence Steele resides? In March, Steele is due $13.25 million and if he’s released before June 1, the Cowboys save $4.6 million and take on $13.5 million in dead money.

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Of course, right guard Zack Martin, a man headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day, had his season ended with ankle surgery.

Not only is Martin a free agent, he could retire.

So in 2025, the first-time offensive coordinator will need to morph the success in Arizona with some challenges in Dallas.

And while the Cowboys praise the work of Adams, the men interviewed had strong resumes. Scottie Montgomery, the running backs/assistant head coach, in Detroit, is a former offensive coordinator and head coach in college. The Lions running game was just as strong as Arizona’s over a two-year period, too.

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Kevin Koger, the Falcons tight ends coach, is highly regarded but he’s never been an offensive coordinator.

The Cowboys were interested in Ken Dorsey, but he’s been fired in Buffalo and Cleveland as their offensive coordinator before finishing his contract.

It’s hard to imagine the fan base getting excited with Dorsey as the offensive coordinator.

So the Cowboys head into their first weekend with Schottenheimer as their head coach with an offensive coordinator hopeful to move a run game that finished next to last in rushing touchdowns (6) and with the sixth-worst yards per game (100.3) into something to admire.

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Twitter/X: @calvinwatkins

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