OXNARD, Calif. – Deuce Vaughn, all 5 feet, 5 inches of him, realizes that at least one thing hasn’t changed as he tries to transition to the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys.
It’s the doubts about his size.
Vaughn, a sixth-round rookie from Kansas State, is challenged to survive in a forest where just about everybody towers above him.
“I’ve been doubted my whole life,” Vaughn, 21, told USA TODAY Sports following a recent training camp practice. “Coming out of high school, I had maybe three offers. Going to Kansas State, I was the ninth running back out of nine running backs on that depth chart. I was able to fight, claw and scratch, and would up starting the second game of my career and play three years.
“It’s just hard work, dedication and being a professional every single day to just try to become a better player in any way I can. It’s the only way I know how to play this game. It hasn’t changed to this point. I’m out to gain the respect of the coaches and everyone in the building to show that I am able to play at this level, just like I did in college and high school.”
Vaughn, who during the preseason opener on Saturday against the Jacksonville Jaguars rushed for 50 yards with a touchdown, caught three passes and returned a kickoff for 30 yards, quickly became a fan favorite during Dallas’ crowd-friendly training camp.
Sure, it’s easy to root for a player who looks as though he might still be playing on somebody’s high school freshman team. People are often inspired by so-called underdogs. Yet in Vaughn’s case, the attraction is undoubtedly fueled by his skill and the potential of adding production to a high-powered offense after he led the nation last season with 1,936 yards from scrimmage.
And it’s tough to consider Vaughn’s potential without recalling another too-short running back from Kansas State: Darren Sproles, a 5-foot-6 dynamo who sparkled for 14 seasons in the NFL.
The buzz with Vaughn has been ignited by the type of explosive burst that can produce chunk plays. On several occasions in practice, Vaughn was the guy hidden behind a wall of blockers before suddenly darting through a hole for a healthy gain. And it came to life on Saturday night as he ripped off a 26-yard run up the middle.
He’s also rather slippery to tackle in the open field, with a knack for bouncing off of contact.
No, Vaughn, in the running for a backup role behind featured back Tony Pollard, is no mere novelty as he vies to become perhaps the shortest player in the storied history of the Cowboys. The Deuce Factor, if you will, may come in the form of a Mighty Mouse.
“Watching him run the football in the run-game aspect, you see a 6-foot, 230-pound running back,” Will McClay, the Cowboys’ vice president of player personnel, told USA TODAY Sports as he observed from the sideline during a practice.
“His negative is his height, but it’s really his super-power because of all the other things about his game that have gotten better because he’s lacking something.”
Then there’s the other relatable twist to story of Christopher Vaughn II. His father, Chris, is the Cowboys’ assistant director of college scouting.
During draft weekend, the video from the Cowboys’ war room went viral as it captured the moment that Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones informed the elder Vaughn that the team would select his son with the 212th pick overall.
“It’s crazy, man,” Vaughn said of joining the team that father has worked for since 2017. “Never something I thought would have happened. It’s hard to put into words how draft day felt. But then things got very real as you went into OTAs and now training camp. I’m getting ready to play some football; I try to put that in the back of my mind. It’s surreal, but you have so much work in front of you to first, make the team, and then to have a role to help this team win. That’s the biggest thing.”
McClay said that given the elder Vaughn’s presence on his staff, it was natural that he and the team’s scouts paid close attention to Deuce. In the evaluation process for the draft, however, there were no shortcuts. And no input from the father.
During the meetings in the weeks before the draft, then again on draft weekend, the elder Vaughn removed himself.
“He said, ‘I’m going to take myself out of the room, so everybody can speak freely,’ “ McClay said.
The Cowboys had Vaughn at the top of a group of four players that they apparently considered choosing with the second of their sixth-round picks. McClay said that Dallas’ running backs coach, Jeff Blasko, contended that Vaughn “was the best gap-scheme runner in the draft – regardless of size.”
As they discussed strengths and weaknesses, they sought to project whether Vaughn could help on special teams, critical for game-day roster management with a backup running back. McClay was also asked, presumably by Jones: “What if we had to cut him?”
“When we started talking about it on that day,” McClay said, referring to the third day of the draft, “all of those points were brought up.”
The elder Vaughn was brought into the room to discuss the other options.
“Even though we were talking about guys who were rated below his son, Chris talked about those guys and all of their positives and how they could help us, without ever referring back to his son,” McClay said.
Fast-forward to the present. Vaughn said the conversations with his father are similar to what they were during his college years. When it comes to football, the talks include a rundown of what occurred in practice and what is needed to improve.
“You get to this point, you’re trying to become a better player, a better person, every single day,” Vaughn said. “So, for him to be in my corner my entire football career, and now for it to be at this level, man, it’s crazy.”
Circumstances seem to have improved Vaughn’s chances to stick. The door was finally shut on the possibility of Ezekiel Elliott returning to the Cowboys after the veteran running back agreed to a one-year deal this week with the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, veteran Ronald Jones was suspended for the first two games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Vaughn is part of a mix that includes fourth-year veteran Rico Dowdle and second-year pro Malik Davis for the slots behind Pollard. The Cowboys have a dynamic returner in second-year receiver KaVontae Turpin, but depth for the punt-return and kickoff-return roles are on the table.
Said Vaughn: “The only thing I need to prove – it’s not necessarily a prove thing, it’s to gain the respect inside this organization for everybody to know that I’m somebody you can trust, somebody that if you put on the field, you understand that I’m going to do my job, own my role, no matter what it is. I’m going to work my butt off. That’s what I’m trying to put across every single day.”
He certainly doesn’t lack the confidence that he belongs – regardless of size.
Vaughn also left an impression during a recent practice, when he was left alone in the backfield to pick up a blitz. Done. He stood up the edge-rusher without a hitch, showing that size doesn’t always matter in the matchups.
“Football is a game of angles and leverage,” McClay noted. “No matter what size you are, you’ve got to understand the angles.”
Vaughn knows. When asked about the blitz pickup, he shrugged.
“That’s football,” he said. “It’s hard to explain exactly what goes through my mind, when it’s ‘Man, you’re a little guy out here playing with the biggest guys in the world.’ But I love this game so much. I love what I do, love the position that I play and everything that comes with it. The pass-blocking, the route-running, the running in-between and outside the tackles.
“No matter what my size is,” he added, “you can’t determine how much heart I put on this field.”
In Vaughn’s case, heart may be just the ticket to level the playing field.
