Gurley really didn't produce much his last season with the Rams - only 57.1 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry. Zeke is slightly better than that this year - not that anyone should be excited about that. Bottom line is both underperformed their contracts.Rams did it with Gurley once they realized what they had done.
And Gurley was actually producing.
I support Elliott when it makes sense to me. If Elliott wasn't 100%, why wouldn't they "let him recover" and play Pollard more?Well that's kind of the point.. Even though he recovered in a few days we know the disease compromises the respiratory system. Guess what dictates how well you can condition? Yep.. the respiratory system. Zeke could have trained as hard as he always has and not achieved the same results because of it. And the scary part is that he would have had no way of knowing. He could have run until he puked, felt like he had a good workout but never knowing that he was not building that conditioning base he was accustomed to having. The disease also weakens those who contract it. Again.. he might have felt "a little sluggish" all offseason but without knowledge of what was going on with his body he probably chalked it up to not being able to train at the team facility and figured it would all come back to normal once he did. Obviously it's all speculation but to pretend it was just a two week disease and everything went back to 100% normal is a mistake .. I think we are seeing that with a lot of the guys who have gotten it during the season. Including the guys in the college ranks.. Some of whom have actually decided to shut it down for the season after not feeling completely right after..
I think the difference is Gurley's issues are medical. Not fair to say he "underperformed."Gurley really didn't produce much his last season with the Rams - only 57.1 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry. Zeke is slightly better than that this year - not that anyone should be excited about that. Bottom line is both underperformed their contracts.
$90 million dollars to "shut him down"?! Better run that one by Jerry first.More logical than cutting Zeke might be to shut him down for the rest of the season.
Well that's kind of the point.. Even though he recovered in a few days we know the disease compromises the respiratory system. Guess what dictates how well you can condition? Yep.. the respiratory system. Zeke could have trained as hard as he always has and not achieved the same results because of it. And the scary part is that he would have had no way of knowing. He could have run until he puked, felt like he had a good workout but never knowing that he was not building that conditioning base he was accustomed to having. The disease also weakens those who contract it. Again.. he might have felt "a little sluggish" all offseason but without knowledge of what was going on with his body he probably chalked it up to not being able to train at the team facility and figured it would all come back to normal once he did. Obviously it's all speculation but to pretend it was just a two week disease and everything went back to 100% normal is a mistake .. I think we are seeing that with a lot of the guys who have gotten it during the season. Including the guys in the college ranks.. Some of whom have actually decided to shut it down for the season after not feeling completely right after..
Several Dallas area sports radio guys (Bob Sturm and Jake Kemp specifically) have been chatting quite a bit lately about the Cowboys cutting Zeke at the end of this season, and just taking the cap hit now. Before everyone screams “Can’t do it!”, look at the details of Zeke’s contract as lined out on Spotrac.com: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/ezekiel-elliott-18952/
I would argue that if this team’s is going to get better faster, we need to get rid of Zeke and his 3.8 ypc and 60 something yards a game, and draft a good young RB out of college with a mid round pick (and a rookie contract) to tandem with Pollard. Cut Zeke as a post June 1 cut, unless some other team is willing to trade for him (which won’t happen).
Here are the reasons:
I know this will not be a popular opinion. And I know the dead money issue is real. But this team’s future is going to be all about drafting younger, cheaper talent, not keeping declining stars with big contracts. This team is not a player or two away from being relevant.
- Keeping Zeke and the big contract is not the future. It’s the past. Sure it would give us some dead money to deal with but his signing was a mistake to begin with. Cut him at the end of the season and deal with the mistake instead of prolonging it. If this team is rebuilding, you have to suffer some to get better.
- His production continues to drop every year. Sure he hasn’t had a good line this year, but his per game yardage and per carry yards have continued to decline year after year.
- He’s lost his dynamic playmaking ability. He hasn’t had a run over 40 yards since his rookie year. Compare that to Derrick Henry who has had 9 runs over 40 yards since his rookie year. Two over 90 yards. Zeke may have taken too much punishment or had too big a load, but whatever the reason, he’s not that special anymore.
And for fans who think this would be stupid, I understand that argument. Maybe. But don’t worry. Because this front office won’t make bold moves like this because they are still buried in the delusion that “this roster is close” to being really good. No it isn’t. And won’t be until they recognize it needs a complete overhaul.
I support Elliott when it makes sense to me. If Elliott wasn't 100%, why wouldn't they "ley him recover" and play Pollard more?
Is this really an issue 4 months after the fact, especially if he was staying in shape before he got Covid? Hell, he had about 2 1/2 months to work on his conditioning after recovering and before the season started, and another 1 1/2 months since then.Well that's kind of the point.. Even though he recovered in a few days we know the disease compromises the respiratory system. Guess what dictates how well you can condition? Yep.. the respiratory system. Zeke could have trained as hard as he always has and not achieved the same results because of it. And the scary part is that he would have had no way of knowing. He could have run until he puked, felt like he had a good workout but never knowing that he was not building that conditioning base he was accustomed to having. The disease also weakens those who contract it. Again.. he might have felt "a little sluggish" all offseason but without knowledge of what was going on with his body he probably chalked it up to not being able to train at the team facility and figured it would all come back to normal once he did. Obviously it's all speculation but to pretend it was just a two week disease and everything went back to 100% normal is a mistake .. I think we are seeing that with a lot of the guys who have gotten it during the season. Including the guys in the college ranks.. Some of whom have actually decided to shut it down for the season after not feeling completely right after..
Seems like a stretch to me. These athletes have the best medical on the planet.I don't think they fully know the impact the virus had on him. No one does. Including him. And the recovery might not be complete until next year..
I think one of the fundamental mistakes this FO consistently makes is it’s tendency to overvalue certain positions while undervaluing others. Jerry loves his WRs and RBs, and pays accordingly. He undervalues S’s and DT’s as exemplified by this FO’s reluctance to use premium draft capital on a DT or S. Not to mention filling their S and DT holes with cheap dumpster dive FAs.I think the difference is Gurley's issues are medical. Not fair to say he "underperformed."
Zeke is just a mentally weak, out of shape clown.
Maybe. I don’t think we know yet what the after effects of this virus are on athletes. Yes, under normal circumstances Zeke should have been fine by now. But I don’t think we have a full medical understanding of this thing yet. I’m not making excuses for Zeke. Just wondering.Is this really an issue 4 months after the fact, especially if he was staying in shape before he got Covid? Hell, he had about 2 1/2 months to work on his conditioning after recovering and before the season started, and another 1 1/2 months since then.
Maybe, although Gurley only missed one game last year, but whatever the reason for it, you said he was performing, and he really wasn't.I think the difference is Gurley's issues are medical. Not fair to say he "underperformed."
Zeke is just a mentally weak, out of shape clown.
Fair enough ...Maybe. I don’t think we know yet what the after effects of this virus are on athletes. Yes, under normal circumstances Zeke should have been fine by now. But I don’t think we have a full medical understanding of this thing yet. I’m not making excuses for Zeke. Just wondering.
Zeke has fallen off hard. I don't think it's physical though. I think his head is not right for whatever reason, which gives me hope that he can turn it around. That said, he is not worth the money he's being paid so...