All eyes were on Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah in Seattle, but it was another player who continued to show that he might be above both.
The Dallas Cowboys' preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks was our first chance to see how the running back battle would fare with real NFL bullets flying, and in the 17-7 win at Lumen Field, an old name won the day.
All eyes were on Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah, who Brian Schottenheimer stated would get a lot of work, and they did...sort of.
Blue was the starter and struggled to get anything meaningful going on the ground (19 yards from eight carries), while Mafah didn't fare much better, rushing for nine yards on four carries before a chest injury ended his night rather early.
But perhaps the biggest winners out of the Seattle win were Israel Abanikanda (7 att, 36 yards) and the "holiday killer," as Schottenheimer called him, Malik Davis (7 att, 39 yards).
Davis hasn't been spoken about much all offseason, but he just keeps doing the right thing, and based on what we saw in Seattle, he is your No.2 running back right now. Argue with a wall.
Now, could that change? Absolutely, as we know what type of plan Dallas has for Blue, but Schottenheimer's words on Malik mean this running back battle might have a new clubhouse leader.
"I thought all of our guys ran hard, give it up for Malik Davis," Schottenheimer said. "Just the holiday horror. I mean, he's amazing. Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, whatever the day is, I love that guy."
"Malik, he's just a slasher, and his vision and understanding of blocking schemes and all that, I think, was great."
Davis was easily the best back on the field in Seattle, and you can also make the case for Abanikanda as well, who ran extremely hard late when the Seahawks loaded the box as the Cowboys looked to see out the game.
And they still couldn't stop Izzy.
But back to Davis.
He just continues to do the right things, and against the Seahawks, he also had the biggest run out of all backs for the Cowboys (14 yards), as his burst and acceleration were on show.
With Blue and Mafah, the two main ones many were looking for in Seattle, Davis outshone them both, and it wasn't close.
"Compete every day" is the Cowboys' mantra under Schottenheimer, and if the coach stays true to that, Davis just overtook both Blue and Mafah in the race for the backup role.
Whether or not he stays there is another thing entirely, but you can't come away from that Seattle game with any other thought than that Davis might be the best backup on the roster.
