We continue scouting the 2026 NFL Draft class of the Dallas Cowboys by looking at the undrafted free agent class. Today we are looking at running back Dominic Richardson from Tulsa.
Dominic Richardson
RB
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Senior
3-star rating
6’0”
207 lbs
History
Richardson’s recruitment had an unusual twist. He originally signed with TCU, but after TCU added more running backs, including five-star Zach Evans, he was granted a release and reopened his recruitment. Oklahoma State added him to its 2020 class in July.
In his
first college season at Oklahoma State, Richardson played in seven games as a true freshman, including each of the final six games, and finished with 44 carries for 223 yards and three touchdowns. His breakout came at Baylor, where he rushed 23 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Oklahoma State said that was the second-highest rushing total by a true freshman in school history, behind only Thurman Thomas’ 206-yard game against Kansas State in 1984.
His second college season was his first full rotation year. He played in all 14 games for Oklahoma State, worked on offense and special teams, and finished with 79 carries for 373 rushing yards and four touchdowns, plus seven catches for 54 yards. His best game was against TCU, when he rushed for 134 yards and scored two touchdowns.
In 2022 he was lead-back and Oklahoma State highlighted him as the next man up after a number of talented running backs had moved on or transferred, and Mike Gundy said early in the year that Richardson could receive 18 to 20 touches per game. In nine games, he led Oklahoma State with 149 carries for 543 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, while also catching 22 passes for 220 yards. His standout games included 27 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown against Arizona State, 22 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown plus three catches for 79 yards against TCU, and three rushing touchdowns against Texas.
After the 2022 season, Richardson transferred from Oklahoma State to Baylor. He immediately became Baylor’s leading rusher and played in 11 games with four starts, missing one game because of injury, and finished with 125 carries for 519 yards and one rushing touchdown. He also added 21 catches for 152 yards and one receiving touchdown.
In 2024, it was a reset year at Baylor. Richardson played in four games before stepping away from the rest of the season to preserve a redshirt year and maintain eligibility. He rushed 31 times for 109 yards and caught one pass for 19 yards.
Before his sixth college season, Richardson briefly joined New Mexico State. The Aggies announced him he would be joining the team, but there was a sudden change and Tulsa later listed him as having transferred to the Golden Hurricane from New Mexico State.
In his final college season,Richardson had the best statistical year of his career. He appeared in 12 games with 11 starts, led Tulsa with 212 carries for 1,065 rushing yards and five touchdowns, and added 20 catches for 130 yards. He became the 23rd player in Tulsa history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and earned second-team All-American Conference honors. Across his full college career, Richardson played 57 games and rushed for 2,832 yards on 640 carries with 21 rushing touchdowns. He also became a productive passing-game outlet, finishing with 72 catches for 587 yards and one touchdown.
2025 Statistics
569 Offensive Snaps
212 Rush Attempts
1,065 Rush Yards
5.0 YPC
5 Rush TDs
20 Receptions
130 Receiving Yards
1 Fumble
66 Broken Tackles
799 Yards After Contact
53 First Downs
1 Penalty
Snap by Position
RB- 95%
Slot-1%
Wideout- 3%
NFL Combine/Pro Day
Awards
2025: Second Team American Conference
Scorecard
Overall– 41.9
Speed- 58
Acceleration- 66
Agility- 57
Strength- 88
Contact Balance- 86
Elusiveness- 55
Ball Security- 82
Vision- 78
Receiving- 58
Blocking- 56
Discipline- 94
THE GOOD
- His best trait is his willingness to press the line, lower his pads and finish runs through contact
- Consistently falls forward and tries to punish tacklers at the end of runs
- His frame and running temperament allow him to stay alive through glancing contact
- Gets downhill with urgency which helps reduce negative plays
- Has an urgent and aggressive running style
- Shows good stamina to close out games
- Feature-back experience
- Shows good durability
THE BAD
- More of a grinder than an explosive home-run threat
- His lower-body stiffness limits how suddenly he can redirect
- Not a quick accelerator
- Does not project as a back who consistently wins on wide-zone tracks, perimeter runs, angle-breaking cuts, or open-field play
- His physical mentality is a strength, but it can also work against him by being too reckless
- Average long-speed
- Not an elite receiving weapon
THE FIT/PROJECTION
Richardson’s best NFL fit is as a physical RB3 and short-yardage rotational back in an offense that wants a downhill runner to handle inside-zone and late-game grinder carries. He is not suited as a wide-zone space back or a featured third-down receiving back. His best work comes when he runs behind his pads, finishes through contact, protects the ball, handles the dirty yards and proves he can contribute on special teams.
For the Cowboys, Richardson projects as a roster-bubble running back with a realistic practice-squad path and an outside shot to stick if he proves useful on special teams. Dallas did not draft a running back, but Richardson still enters a crowded room and will have to distinguish himself with physicality, ball security, pass protection and short-yardage reliability.
SUMMARY
Dominic Richardson’s game is built around toughness, contact balance and a downhill running style. After a long college career that included stops at Oklahoma State, Baylor and Tulsa, Richardson finally handled a true feature-back workload in 2025 and responded with the best season of his career. He’s a broad-shouldered runner with a thick core who uses his frame to finish runs violently. His game is not built on suddenness or open-field creativity, it is built on urgency, power and a willingness to run through contact. That style gives him value as a tone-setting depth back who can handle inside-zone, gap and short-yardage work.
His best trait is his mentality as a runner. He presses downhill, lowers his pads and fights to turn modest gains into positive plays. He does not dance in the backfield, and his physicality helps him avoid negative runs even when blocking is imperfect. That was visible late in his Tulsa season, when he closed with two of his strongest performances.
The limitation with Richardson is that he’s not a dynamic explosive-play back. He lacks high-end playmaking ability, with tight hips and heavier lower-body movement that can take time to build speed. That means he may not create many chunk gains on his own at the NFL level, and he is more likely to win as a physical chain-mover than as a space player who consistently stresses defenses horizontally.
Overall, Richardson is a mature, experienced, hard-nosed running back whose game is more dependable than flashy. He lacks elite burst and lateral creativity, but his size, toughness, finishing ability and proven workload capacity give him a clear NFL lane. His most realistic projection is as a developmental RB3/RB4 candidate who can compete for special-teams snaps and short-yardage work, with the upside to become a useful backup if he proves he can protect the quarterback and consistently create tough yards against NFL fronts.
PRO COMPARISON
Damien Harris
BTB OVERALL RANKING
N/A
CONSENSUS OVERALL RANKING
489th
