K-State’s Deuce Vaughn Wows Cowboys Fans

by Kevin Burton

   It was just one pre-season game, so let’s not get crazy with this yet. But Deuce Vaughn may be about to silence his critics.

   I sure hope so.

   Vaughn was a consensus All-American running back at Kansas State in 2021 and a unanimous All-American last year, according to Wikipedia.   

  He gained more than 3,600 yards rushing in three years and 1,200 more passing, scoring 43 touchdowns. He was the focal point of the offense for the Big-12 champion Wildcats.  Yet he waited until the sixth round (212^th overall) to hear his name called in the NFL draft when he did go pro.

   And it was all because he is only 5’5” and about 180 pounds.  It’s not the profile of a typical NFL running back.

   What’s more, Vaughn’s father Chris, who is a scout for the Cowboys and played college ball at Murray State, was the one to call Deuce and tell him he had been drafted by Dallas.

   Some may have thought Dallas’s selection of Vaughn was not much more than a favor to his father, just a nice story for day three of the draft. 

   The boys on my favorite fantasy football podcast have stupidly been making fun of Vaughn because he is so small.

   But Vaughn led the Cowboys in their first pre-season game against Jacksonville, with 50 yards rushing, including a touchdown, and he caught three passes.

   And you began to hear Cowboys fans chanting “Deuuuuuuuuce” in their home stadium football palace.

   That was music to my ears, although Dallas fans are famously delusional. I almost wish Vaughn had been drafted by Green Bay, or some other team with more realistic fans.

   You never know how a player’s skills will translate once he moves up a level. But I thought Vaughn would at least do ok, if given a chance. 

   His start has exceeded expectations.

   “The rookie knew full well that there had been questions about his size, about whether he’d be tough enough to play at the pro level,” wrote Todd Borck in USA Today, “about whether his feel-good draft-day story would be the high point of his journey, about whether his game- even with its electrifying speed- would translate to the topmost tier of the sport.”

   “The 21-year-old admits he was even second-guessing a little prior to Saturday afternoon’s preseason kickoff.”

  “It’s a question mark coming in whenever you’re about to play your first NFL game,” the Kansas State product told reporters after the game. “It was like that when you were in college- wondering if you can adapt to the speed, wondering if you can do everything and be successful.”

   “But Vaughn’s debut left no doubt. Though Dallas lost to Jacksonville by a 28-23 score, the sixth-round selection provided plenty of flash in just 20 offensive snaps,” Brock wrote.
   “He logged 50 yards on eight carries and showed that, at 5-foot-5, he’s not just a hard man to find on the football field, he’s also a hard man to bring to the ground.

   “Whenever you get to that second level,” Vaughn said, “I feel like that’s where I excel.”

    “Vaughn added another six yards in the passing game after catching all three targets thrown to him, and he added a fourth-quarter touchdown on the ground for good measure.”

   “Hard to put into words,” Vaughn said of his scoring moment. “I can’t take all the credit; those guys up front, they were blocking their butts off all game. To get in the end zone in your first preseason game, that’s just a testament to all the work that’s been put in since pre-draft.”

   Perhaps even more impressive, according to Brock, was that Vaughn racked up most of his stats behind a backup offensive line.

   “He played very well,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said. “I thought he had a heck of a night. It was a great introduction to the NFL.”

   “And in seeing for himself that the lights weren’t too bright and the stage wasn’t too big for him, Vaughn admitted that his most important takeaway from the night was a single realization, one that should put the NFL’s other 31 defenses on notice, because now they have no excuse not to know.”

      “That I belong. I feel like that’s the biggest thing for myself, is just coming in and proving people that believed in me right,” Vaughn said. “And it doesn’t stop now. I go back to work on Monday to get ready for the next preseason game.”

   “Already spoken like a savvy NFL veteran.”