Big Z to Big D? Ole Miss RB Zach Evans Sets Meeting With Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys have scheduled a meeting with Ole Miss NFL Draft running back prospect, Zach Evans.

Matt Galatzan | Mar 30, 2023

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Ole Miss Rebels

The Ole Miss Rebels hosted their Pro Day yesterday, and running back Zach Evans gave some insight into which teams have shown interest in him ahead of the NFL Draft in April.

Among those teams, is the Dallas Cowboys, who Evans revealed has scheduled a meeting with him in the coming days.

Should Dallas select Evans, it would represent a bit of a homecoming.

Back in 2020, Evans was ranked as the top running back recruit in the state of Texas. He began his collegiate career as a TCU Horned Frog, rushing for 1,063 yards during his two seasons in Fort Worth on an astounding 7.3 yards per carry.

Entering his junior season, Evans transferred to Ole Miss, playing under Lane Kiffin in the SEC. In his lone season as a Rebel, Evans would record 936 rushing yards, averaging 6.5 yards per carry, while having 10 total touchdowns.

Having never received a full three-down workload in college, Evans will enter the league with "fresh tires," so to speak. In his three seasons of college ball, Evans had 320 touches, significantly less than his contemporary, Texas Longhorns rusher Bijan Robinson, who had 277 touches in his junior season alone.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranks him as a top-100 prospect … and Dallas has been open about wishing to Draft a runner.

On the Cowboys, Evans could eat into some of the available touches left by Ezekiel Elliott following the organization’s decision to release him.

Fresh off of a season in which he split carries with SEC Freshman of the Year winner Quinshon Judkins, Evans could continue his supporting role behind Pro Bowl running back Tony Pollard.

During the NFL Combine, Evans measured in at 5-11, 202 pounds, but didn’t test athletically due to a minor hamstring injury. At Ole Miss’ Pro Day, Evans unofficially ran a 4.45 in the 40-yard dash, a 4.26 20-yard shuttle and finished the three-cone drill in 7.08 seconds. … All numbers that would have ranked among the top 10 running backs at the combine and support his game film, which displayed top-end speed and explosiveness.

Provided that Evans impresses during his meeting with Dallas, the Texas native could hear his name called as soon as Day 2 of the NFL Draft and become a staple of the Cowboys offense.

Published Mar 30, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan the Editor-In-Chief of TheGroveReport.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels.