Cowboys finally land 2023 draft target; RB signed to practice squad

The Cowboys aren't quite done at running back for 2025, and a record-setting ballcarrier whom the club has had its eye on since college may prove to be a key piece in their December chase for a playoff berth.

Israel Abanikanda has been signed to the practice squad, per an announcement from the team on Sunday. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round draft pick of the Jets in 2023 and has bounced around with the 49ers and Packers since then, though he's seen minimal action in the regular season.

He's been on the Cowboys' radar since his collegiate days at Pitt. His breakout season came in 2022, when, amid an 11-start campaign for the Panthers, he exploded for 320 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a game versus Virginia Tech. That single-game rushing total broke Cowboys legend Tony Dorsett's school record, which the Hall of Famer set in 1975.

The Cowboys met with Abanikanda at the scouting combine following his 1,400-yard junior season. Though not an imposing physical specimen at 5-foot-10 and 216 pounds, he was seen as a possible workhorse-type back, a patient runner who takes what is given and then typically manages to make even more out of it.

Dallas went into the 2023 draft with a genuine need at running back, as Ezekiel Elliott had departed for New England, and there was little proven depth behind Tony Pollard. Abanikanda was viewed as a solid Day 3 value pick, but the club used its late-fourth-round selection on defensive end Viliami Fehoko, and the Jets scooped up Abanikanda 14 picks later.

The Brooklyn native was quickly lost in the Jets' disastrous 2023, in which newly-signed Aaron Rodgers was lost for the year on team's fourth offensive snap in Week 1. Gang Green turned to Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook to pound the rock as the team struggled under backup passer Zach Wilson, and the rookie slipped between the cracks, compiling just 70 yards on 22 carries in six game appearances.

Abanikanda was then waived by the Jets toward the end of a 2024 season in which he did not play. Quickly claimed by the 49ers, he spent a portion of the 2025 offseason in San Francisco but was cut during camp. Green Bay took a chance on him next, but he did not make the 53-man roster and stayed on the Packers' practice squad for less than two weeks before being released on Sept. 8.

Now Abanikanda will join a Cowboys practice squad following the ascension to the active roster of Malik Davis. His addition could also be seen as a challenge to rookie Jaydon Blue, who has failed to live up to expectations and has been a disappointing healthy scratch for much of his first year.

Whether the Cowboys view Abanikanda as purely a scout-team body for the next handful of weeks or a legitimate roster option at some point down the road, they'll finally get an up-close look at a guy they've been eyeing for a while.

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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys sign RB Israel Abanikanda to practice squad