Gosselin: Cowboys were right to let Murray go, wrong to pin hopes on Randle and pass on RB in draft

The Cowboys miss DeMarco Murray.

And these days, I'm sure DeMarco Murray misses the Cowboys.

Murray was the catalyst of an NFC East championship team last season, the NFL's leading rusher. His legs allowed the Cowboys to control the ball and the clock. That took the pressure off Tony Romo to make every play to win every game and kept an overmatched defense fresh and productive.

But Murray was 27, approaching the wall for running backs. His best years were behind him, as he's proving in Philadelphia this season. He ranks 22nd in the league in rushing with an average of 56 yards per game there -- 59 fewer than he averaged for the Cowboys in 2014.

I had no problem with the decision by the Jones family to let Murray walk in free agency rather than pay him the $42 million the Eagles gave him over five years. He would have been a salary-cap casualty waiting to happen as he approached 30 -- and this franchise has suffered through its share of bad contracts. Passing on Murray showed fiscal responsibility by the Jones family.

But if the Cowboys were to say goodbye to Murray, I believed they needed to replace him on the roster with a draft pick. The running back class of 2015 was the best crop of ball carriers I've seen in about a decade. The Cowboys could have given themselves a future at the position last April.

They didn't.

Instead, the Cowboys went all in on Joseph Randle. I didn't trust him on or off the field, and I was surprised the Cowboys did. As an insurance policy, the Cowboys signed a low-dollar, free-agent running back who was approaching the wall himself -- 28-year-old Darren McFadden.

Randle was benched by Halloween and banished by midseason. Goodbye and good riddance. The Cowboys added another running back by trading a conditional 2016 draft pick to the Seattle Seahawks for Christine Michael, who was cut loose Tuesday.

They should have spent that draft pick on a running back last May.

Consider it an opportunity lost.

There were 17 halfbacks taken in the 2015 NFL draft. Fourteen of them are still on active rosters and another is on injured reserve. The other two are on the practice squads of their drafting teams. Of the 14 backs active, eight have started games, including runners taken in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Twelve have touched the football from scrimmage and 10 have scored touchdowns.

Everyone knows about Todd Gurley, the 10th overall selection by the St. Louis Rams. He's had four 100-yard games and ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing with 709 yards. San Diego also drafted Melvin Gordon in the first round, and he's started eight games for the Chargers. Both second-round runners also have started -- T.J. Yeldon at Jacksonville and Ameer Abdullah at Detroit. Yeldon has started eight times and ranks 15th in the NFL in rushing with 531 yards.

The Cowboys weren't going to draft a back in the first two rounds. But there were some good ones still left on the board.

Atlanta claimed Tevin Coleman in the third round, and he beat out Devonta Freeman for the starting job in training camp. But Coleman suffered a fractured rib in the second week, and it's now Freeman chasing an NFL rushing crown. Cleveland drafted Duke Johnson in the third round and he also was an opening day starter. He ranks third on the Browns in receptions with 39 for 387 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bears found Jeremy Langford in the fourth round and the Bills stole Karlos Williams in the fifth. Both have started games. Williams has seven touchdowns and two 100-yard games. Langford has five touchdowns to lead the Bears. Langford has an 83-yard touchdown reception, and third-round pick Matt Jones has a 78-yard TD catch for the Redskins.

New Orleans drafted DeSoto product Marcus Murphy in the seventh round, and although he has not touched the ball yet from scrimmage, he's the primary return man on the Saints. He's averaging 25 yards on kickoff returns and 9.8 yards on punts with a 74-yard touchdown. Do you think the Cowboys could have used a return man this season to replace Dwayne Harris?

The Seahawks signed undrafted college free agent Thomas Rawls, and even he has a 100-yard rushing game this season. Seven other undrafted college running backs joined him on opening day rosters.

There was talent galore in the 2015 draft at running back. Unfortunately, the Cowboys weren't looking. Now running back is an even greater priority, but the Class of 2016 won't be as bountiful. McFadden isn't getting any younger and neither is Romo. The window is closing on the Cowboys with a hole in the backfield.

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis.

Backs of the future

Rick Gosselin lists the top five running back prospects for the 2016 NFL draft: