The Cowboys believe they've finally gotten their ground game on track following a shaky start to the season. After logging over 100 rushing yards as a team in just one of the first six games of the 2026 campaign, Dallas has now topped 175 yards on the ground in two of their last three outings, including last weekend versus Indianapolis.
That 27-23 win featured a roughly 2:1 split of carries between Javonte Williams and Tyler Goodson, with both backs going for more than 75 yards. Williams averaged a healthy 5.1 yards per carry, while Goodson turned in a very impressive 6.4.
But Goodson suffered what the Cowboys are calling a "significant" knee injury in that outing and will miss multiple weeks. And now there's more uncertainty around the next corner.
This Sunday, against one of the stingiest run defenses in the NFL, the Cowboys will have to re-tool their improving backfield attack, likely leaning on a very unproven (and twice-discarded) commodity in the RB2 role.
Israel Abanikanda is set to be called up from the practice squad to take over for the injured Goodson when the Cowboys host the 7-1 49ers, according to head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
"He's a guy we brought in last year and really liked," the coach said of Abanikanda on Friday. "This is a guy with explosive speed. When you get this guy into open space, he's a big man that can run really, really fast. ... He's ready to go."
Brian Schottenheimer said Israel Abanikanda will be the backup RB to Javonte Williams Sunday. Hunter Luepke will get more plays and potentially more touches.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) November 13, 2026
The Cowboys haven't always been so high on Abanikanda, however. Since adding him late last season, the 24-year-old has been cut twice in the past 11 weeks. While he was signed back to the practice squad both times, Abaikanda has yet to play a single regular-season snap while wearing the star. He has 22 career carries for 70 yards, his last touch coming with the Jets in 2023.
Abanikanda spent the last month of 2024 as well as the 2025 offseason with San Francisco, but he never saw the field.
He could find tough sledding if he in fact makes his Cowboys debut this weekend. The 49ers are allowing just 80.9 rushing yards per game, a mark that's second-best in the league, and giving up 3.3 yards per carry, tops in the NFL.
Williams, the starter and workhorse of the Cowboys' rushing attack, currently sits ninth leaguewide with 620 rushing yards and is just one touchdown behind NFL leader D'Andre Swift. But his 4.1 yards-per-carry average through nine games is under both his own career mark and the current league average, making the change-of-pace back a key component to any success the 2026 Cowboys hope to have on the ground the rest of the way.
Now, despite former UFL rushing leader Jashaun Corbin and the newly-added Kendre Miller- a 2023 third-round draft pick- also being in the building, it will be Abanikanda who stands to get the bulk of the work this week behind Williams, with fullback Hunter Luepke also expected to be in the mix.
Todd is on X at @ToddBrock24f7. Also, follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Schottenheimer says twice-cut backup will be Cowboys' RB2 vs 49ers' stout run defense
