Totally agree with this!!!We can say goodbye to Zeke getting 300+ carries as long as Kellen Moore is calling the plays. That's not the style he wants to play so Zeke is relegated to pass blocking 40-45 times a game and running it maybe 15. Whether people want to accept it or not, the fact that the OC wants to be a 70% passing offense is the main reason Zeke plays over Pollard not their contracts. Moore doesn't want to run the ball regardless of who is back there so if you're going to throw it 45-50 times a game the guy who is the better pass protector is the better choice. Especially when your line is struggling the way ours did last season. I will always come back to the fact that up until he got hurt Zeke was second in the NFL in rushing and averaging 5.5 yards per carry. And that was even WITH the line often not blocking worth a damn. But football is a merciless biatch so his body probably wasn't going to let him sustain that pace for 300 carries anyway so it is smart to mix in Pollard for 30-40% of the snaps. The problem is the more Pollard plays the more likely HE is likely to be and so is Dak.
Clearly I don't like the way Zeke is being used under Moore but I have no delusions it's going to change. So all I can do is hope the guys figure out how to make something great out of the horse bleep plays he sends in all too often. I'm not going to pile on Zeke for how he played after he got hurt. He clearly had no business out there and I will always maintain that everybody involved in making the call to keep him out there should be fired. Or at least docked some game checks.
Well when they run away from him the backside DE/OLB blows by him and runs the play down from the backside so it doesn't much matter if they run to his side or not. I do actually remember people complaining about Emmitt having "lost a step" as he entered the latter half of his career but he proved that if you gave him decent blocking he could still perform at a top 5-10 level.
After a certain age (and number of miles on the tires) a back simply isn't going to be able to put the team on his back for long stretches but great ones can still do it for a game or two or take over for a series or two every game.. I think Zeke is such a back.. His problem is that Moore isn't going to let him carry this team very often. I think we had a 3 game stretch last season where we NEVER called consecutive run plays.. I think it was like the Thanksgiving game, the Ratscum game and the Nawlins games.. I think there was an even longer stretch without three consecutive run plays. It's like Moore is scared to let the running game get off. Doesn't matter if they get 2 yards or 20.. the next three plays WILL be passes more often than not.
Some of his declining production is clearly due to the OL.
Zeke is washed.
Everyone knows it. He knows it. The coaches know it. Jerry knows it.
He is just another anchor on this team at this point and we should move on as quickly as possible. Oh, and NEVER draft another RB high!
If you haven’t noticed the decline then you don’t want to and probably never will.
it is (the OL) .. no question, and it's not just affecting Zeke but also Pollard.
And it's not just the OL either, ..but some blame can be placed on the lack of blocking by the TEs ,as well as the questionable plays, schemes and usage by the coaching staff.
.. but yet when we see some plays where Pollard was just a slip or inch away from potentially breaking it away and big.
it placed me back to where we used to see the same initial burst from Zeke awhile back.
Such as that pitch out to Pollard and seeing him scamper for 60 yds TD untouched.
That reminded me of Zeke's 40-60 yrd untouched TD burst back in the days.
The 2021 season was the fourth 1,000-yard campaign for Elliott in six seasons. However, after two 100-yard performances and averaging 90.4 yards per game with five rushing touchdowns in the first five weeks, Elliott registered just 45.8 yards a contest in the last 12 games, and the reason why was because he played with a partially torn PCL for most of the season which was revealed after the Cowboys playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round.
He played injured, I will give him a certain amount of the benefit of the doubt. He will play this year and we will see
Has a ton of miles on him simply due to the way he runs/blocks. Mid 20s but the miles of someone in their 30s.
His break away speed / miss tackle ability is long gone however can still wear defenses down with his running style. With Pollard and Zeke there is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't be able to run through most teams even with the OL having medicore rush win rates.
The majority of the run problems is KM fault imo. We were doing fine in the beginning of the year but regressed back to JG 2.0 run game schemes
What's he going to do start off good like last year make people a believer then the same at the end of the season??
In his 3 yrs at Ohio State, Zeke had a whopping combined 650 touches; but 627 of those touches were his last two yrs. When you combine his college and NFL combined touches, he has 2,588 total touches.- I thought Urban Meyer played other RBs to help share the load with Zeke at Ohio state. (ala Carlos Hyde)
But zeke was brutalized and workload pounded when Garrett got a hold of him at the NFL level- especially in 2018 when he only had
useless Rod Smith as a relief reserve.
- Just as we saw the wear and tear of guys like Larry Johnson, Chris Johnson, from coaches that were so bell cow depended on backs, we may likely
be seeing the same path with Zeke.
- Garrett regime seemed like they wanted Zeke to be Emmitt Smith like 2.0 pounding bell cow, ..bulked him up and beat him down.
Thus the burst he was noted for zipped- appeared. And even blitz- blocking as much as he does, it takes a toll on the body,.
. and he wasn't never the most overly elusive stop-restart miss guy.
- Opposing defenses do not fear Zeke anymore. They do not have to game plan for him anymore. They used to be frightened of his burst and home run speed- even on
quick RB screens passes. (ala Steelers/ Niners TDs) ..but this version lumbers. and he cannot explode in and out of holes as the 2016 version.
The guy had a torn PCL, all Zeke can do is get him self ready for the season and go out and produce. He made no excuses for his play and did not miss a game, he did as the team asked of him never creating waves. People claim Zeke is immature? lol , look around hear, I see a lot of immaturity.
Yes but did he force himself into games knowing he was hurt or demand to play knowing he was hurt???
Pollard doesn't have that problem. In fact, his numbers surpassed Elliott's last season in a fashionable way. And I wouldn't be surprised Pollard continues on doing so in 2022.Some of his declining production is clearly due to the OL.