Do Cowboys Need To "Chase" A Running Back In The Draft This Year?

There's been a lot of talk in recent days about the Cowboys possibly trading up in the first round to get a running back. There's been even more talk about the Cowboys needing to pick a running back in the second round.

There were even arguments being made that if the Cowboys were willing to give up a pick, say a second-rounder, for Adrian Peterson in a trade with the Vikings, then they should invest that exact pick to trade up in the first round for their running back of choice.

All three scenarios (scenarii for the cognoscenti) would have the Cowboys chasing a running back. And chasing any given position, or any given player, is the cardinal sin in any draft.

Adding fuel to the fire of the notion that the Cowboys need to strike early if they are to get a running back are statements found with increasing frequency among Cowboys fans like the following:

"There will be four running backs taken in the first round."

"The top six guys will all be gone by pick No. 60."

"There will be 10 running backs drafted in the first two days of the draft."

Yet that kind of hyperbole seems to be largely limited to Cowboys fan circles. Mel Kiper for example has only three running backs going in the first two rounds in his latest mock draft:

And Kiper is not alone in his assessment. Here's a selection of recent mock drafts, and where they see the running backs going.

None of these mocks see an early run on running backs, and none of these mocks see more than five running backs taken in the first two rounds. Of course, if you're going to base your draft strategy on a bunch of mocks then all is lost anyway, but this at least provides some food for thought.

The reality of the draft is that you will usually have to invest a high pick for premier talent, but when you have a class that is deep in talent, as this year's running back class is, the value is going to be found in the later rounds. Or does a deep class mean that there will be a lot of quality backs picked early?

Going by the mocks above, the draft is going to offer a lot of options at running back in the third and fourth rounds. But should the Cowboys wait that long and let the draft come to them, or should they aggressively pursue their target player?