 Dunbar in 2012 | |||||||||||||||
| Idaho Vandals football | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Running Backs Coach | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1990-01-25)January 25, 1990 (age 35) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 187 lb (85 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Haltom (Haltom City, Texas) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | North Texas (2008–2011) | ||||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2012 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Lance Dunbar Jr. (born January 25, 1990) is a formerAmerican footballrunning back. He playedcollege football atUniversity of North Texas and was signed by theDallas Cowboys as anundrafted free agent in 2012.
Dunbar was born inNew Orleans, Louisiana and lived in New Orleans until 2005, when he was forced to move due toHurricane Katrina. He initially attendedDe La Salle High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) where he playedrunning back andsafety, but transferred after his family settled inHaltom City, Texas.[1] In his junior and senior years atHaltom High School, he had over 2,200 combined rushing yards and was named first-team All-district both years.[2]
Dunbar accepted a football scholarship from theUniversity of North Texas, as it was close to his home.[2] He played in his firstcollege football game on September 6, 2008, againstTulsa. He had 10 rushing attempts for 72 yards and atouchdown, and he also had threereceptions for 25 yards.[3] He played in five games that season, finishing with 178 rushing yards on 39 attempts, for a 4.6 average.[4]
In 2009, Dunbar played in all 12 ofNorth Texas' games. He did not have more than 16 rushing attempts during the first four games. On October 10, againstLouisiana-Lafayette, he had 32 carries and set career-highs with 187 rushing yards and fourtouchdowns.[5] AgainstFlorida Atlantic one week later, he ran for 238 yards, his highest total of the season, and had three touchdowns.[6] Dunbar had 1,378 rushing yards and a conference-leading 17 rushingtouchdowns in 2009 and was the team's leading rusher.[7]North Texas had a record of 2–10.[7]
Dunbar was named to the preseasonAll-Sun Belt team in 2010.[8] He did not rush for over 141 yards in any of the first seven games that year. However, in the last five games, he rushed for over 200 yards three times.[9] During the final game of the season, againstKansas State University, he set a career-high for rushing yards, with 270. He had 22 carries and averaged 12.3 yards per attempt that day. In addition, he scored three rushingtouchdowns and one receivingtouchdown.[10]North Texas lost that game and had a 3–9 record in 2010.[9] He finished his junior year with 1,553 rushing yards and 13 rushingtouchdowns.[9] He ledNorth Texas in rushing yards for the second-straight season.[11][12] In his final season in 2011, he had 1,115 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns to go along with 29 receptions for 350 receiving yards and two touchdowns.[13]
Dunbar finished his college career with many accomplishments:
In 2016, Dunbar was inducted into the North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame.[16]
After being passed over in the2012 NFL draft because of size concerns, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by theDallas Cowboys on April 28,2012.[17] Dunbar showed off his skills during the preseason and made the team'spractice squad as arunning back andspecial teams player. On October 8, he was promoted to the Cowboys' 53-man roster. He was also used as agunner coveringpunts, finishing with 10special teams tackles. In the 2012 season, he finished with 21 carries for 75 rushing yards.[18]
Dunbar began the2013 season with the expectation of being a change-of-pace back that could play backup toDeMarco Murray, but injuries (three games missed) and fumble issues impacted his playing time at the start of the season. He was fighting for the third-stringrunning back position with rookieJoseph Randle, when he had a breakout game against theOakland Raiders, registering 82 rushing yards (6.8 average), but also suffering a season-ending knee injury.[19] For the year, he recorded 150 yards, averaging five yards per attempt, leaving the Cowboys with high hopes about his running ability.[20] In2014, he did not see much playing time behindOffensive Player of the Year DeMarco Murray and also fell to third-string behind Joseph Randle.[21]
In2015, after the team lost Murray to thePhiladelphia Eagles infree agency andDez Bryant to injury in the season opener against theNew York Giants, Dunbar earned a more prominent role in the offense. In the first game against the Giants, he registered a team-high eight receptions for 70 yards and was a key player in the fourth quarter game-winning drive with two catches for 40 yards.[22] Against theAtlanta Falcons, he finished with a career-high of 10 receptions for 100 yards.[23] He entered the fourth game of the season against theNew Orleans Saints as the team's leading receiver and recorded a 45-yard run, before tearing theACL, theMCL and thepatellar tendon in his left knee, during akickoff return, which was a task he was assigned to replace the recently departedDwayne Harris. He was placed on theinjured reserve list on October 10.[24]
On March 17,2016, Dunbar re-signed with the Cowboys on a one-year, $1.75 million contract.[25] He began training camp on thephysically unable to perform list, while recovering from his previous knee injury. He made a surprising recovery that had him available to play in the last preseason game and that made the Cowboys decide to keepDarren McFadden on the Non Football Injury List.[26] His injury knee flared up and was declared inactive against theChicago Bears,Green Bay Packers, andPhiladelphia Eagles. With the emergence of rookieEzekiel Elliott, the offseason addition ofAlfred Morris, and the late season return of McFadden, his impact and production were limited, finishing with 31 rushing yards, 122 receiving yards, and one rushingtouchdown.[27]
On March 16,2017, Dunbar signed a one-year contract with theLos Angeles Rams, who were looking to replaceBenny Cunningham.[28] He also reunited with running back coachSkip Peete, who coached him in his first season with the Cowboys. He was placed on thephysically unable to perform list to start the 2017 season after dealing with a knee injury.[29] He was activated off PUP to the active roster on November 11, 2017.[30] He finished the season with 11 carries for 51 rushing yards and a touchdown in four games.[31] On March 9, 2018, Dunbar was released by the Rams.[32]
In 2019, Dunbar was selected in the eighth round of the2020 XFL Draft by theDallas Renegades.[33] In March, amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, the league announced that it would be cancelling the rest of the season.[34] Playing in all 5 games, he registered 30 carries for 146 yards and a score, as well as 26 receptions for 154 yards.[35] He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[36]
