What if Zeke received the Murray treatment

[slick325]

We drafted Zeke due to a win now mindset in the 2016 draft. Remember, we had Romo then and felt we were a player or two away from a Super Bowl.

If they let him walk...I stand by what I said, the QB better be lights out and the defense better be dominant. Or...things can get ugly with an average back behind that line.

I understand the stance of not wanting to pay the position. Hey, I'm one that believes that just because you play QB doesn't mean you get $20MM. You pay special talent no matter the position they play. If they think Zeke isn't special, let him walk. If they think he is...pay him. We all will see soon what the team chooses.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Going into the playoffs, Zeke was averaging 101.2 rushing yards per game in his first 3 seasons in the League. That put him behind only the great Jim Brown (104.3 yds/game) and ahead of Barry Sanders (99.8 yds/game), Terrell Davis (97.5 yds/game) and Eric Dickerson (90.8 yds/game). Making Zeke number 2 all-time in yds per after 3 seasons. Each name on the list is in the HOF.

Not sure where you're getting your numbers. He's 5th, behind Dickerson, Campbell, Brown and James. Dickerson and Campbell are WAY ahead of the others. Now, they're all HOFers, so that doesn't really hurt your argument. But Campbell and James were washed up by 27-28. Who's right behind him? Clinton Portis (washed up at 25), Jamal Lewis (one good year after 25), Terrell Davis (washed up at 27), Chris Johnson (washed up at 28), and on and on. And it's not like those guys are far behind him: they're all within a few yards per game, and most did it over more games than Zeke.

Oh, and that number has dropped each year for Zeke, from 109 to 98 to 96. Zeke is an excellent and durable RB, and exactly the kind of guy who's done as a productive player by the time he's 27 or 28.

 

[JD_KaPow]

If they let him walk...I stand by what I said, the QB better be lights out and the defense better be dominant. Or...things can get ugly with an average back behind that line.

You think our line is that terrible? That's interesting.

 

[slick325]

You think our line is that terrible? That's interesting.

The OL is great. Said that already. They were great in 2015 too. But the QB play was terrible, the RBs were average at best and non-impact players added to a defense that was middle of the pack at best...all equalled..."with the 4th pick in the 2016 Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select..."

 

[Diehardblues]

You think our line is that terrible? That's interesting.

That is an interesting point. We saw what this line was without Elliott. It didn’t look as great. That’s for sure. Terrible? IDK.

Back in 2015 it looked much better with McFadden than Randle but not as great with Murray ,so it appears the talent level at RB does matter.

 

[DallasEast]

Zeke fumbled the game away against Seattle. He's gotten very lucky with his other fumbles and how they bounced.

Are you referring to last season's regular season game versus the Seahawks, when Elliott fumbled with less than 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, with Seattle leading Dallas 24-6?

In my opinion, all running backs experience various degrees of luck in regards to fumbling. I believe Murray enjoy more bad luck than good.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

What exactly did they "learn" then? They went from Murray leading the league in rushing in 2014 to Zeke leading the league in rushing in 2016. And McFadden resuscitating his failed career going over 1,000 yards and finishing 4th in the league, in between. That sounds exactly like "dime a dozen" based on how well multiple backs were able to perform.

Stash are you serious.......I mean you really think teams game planned to stop McFadden the same as Murray? Hell, they even tried to bring Murray back after he was cut by the Eagles. Running back by committee was a colossal failure.

 

[nate dizzle]

No, it wouldn't be a foolish move - again, no player is going to wait until their 7th or 8th season in the league for their second contract, especially someone like Zeke when he knows he can get a big contract elsewhere just by sitting.

It's not happening and the Jones will give in long before Zeke did. Bell didn't get his contract due to injuries and off the field issues - Zeke has had a minor problem of course, but I haven't heard anything about attitude problems and I doubt our players would be dissing Zeke for holding out like the Steelers locker room did.

We'll see. The reason it's a foolish move is if you sit a season and earn nothing when you could have made ~12 million. No matter what your next contract is, you will never make that $12mil back. It's money lost, along with any interest that money could have made you in that year. Any financial adviser worth a damn would explain that to him.

 

[gmoney112]

Murray was 2 years older than Zeke when they were drafted.

Given the life of RBs, that's a pretty significant fact.

Murray was 27 when his rookie contract was up. Coming off a monster year in Dallas, also a year he had almost 400 attempts.

I liked Demarco, we did actually offer him a deal, the Eagles just overpaid, and ended up trading him for a 4th round pick after one year. We were right.

I know the RB trends (the first person to say "but 27 years old" or "1800 carries" is getting shanked), and Zeke's agent is going to try and get him a whopper of a deal. I'm honestly pretty fine with anything that's not completely outrageous, where we can get out from under it when he's 27-28. I'm really not that concerned about him through then as long as we keep him around 300 carries.

I could see it going either way really. Option and tag is $20m in guaranteed for just two years of rights, so that's right along the lines of "want to get a deal done" territory. It's ultimately up to Zeke imo, unless we just offer a crap deal, which I don't think we will. Agents nowadays can just pick the biggest recent contract at the position and hand wave until late in the process, whispering sweet nothings into players ears who have usually never dealt with this kinda negotiation or money before. I imagine whether Zeke stays or goes is his willingness to get on his agent a bit, and how much he actually wants to stay. If he wants the largest RB contract in NFL history, then yeah he's probably gone.

 

[CouchCoach]

Any team that builds a good OL, the RB will come.

Elliott is a very good RB, generational talent is a little much with Barkley and Gurley around. There are many good RB's, in fact, in all of the positions necessary to fill a roster, it is more likely to find 32 good RB's than any other position.

LA, DAL and NY might have drawn more attention to the RB position with their recent drafts but that has not changed the game. The Pats have a good ground game every season and seldom a RB in the PB. Think he's thinking about keeping Michel when his deal is up? Hell no, he'll either draft another or get one in FA. And he puts a lot of stock in the run game.

The problem with the RB's is they want in on the payday and who can blame them, shortest lifespan in the game. However, they play the easiest position to transition in the game. And the best in the last 20 years barely sniffed the playoffs in his career. NE just keeps plugging the RB's in and are in the top 10 in rushing every season

I believe the reason for Emmitt's longevity was all about that OL. He was a great back with vision but that OL helped him avoid the big hits and the repetitive hits that put them on the sideline and watching Elliott's running style, he is going to catch some bench time. He is an injury just waiting to happen. Go ahead, pay the man and when that man is on the bench, whatchya gonna do? 11 figures for ANY RB is dumb.

 

[JD_KaPow]

The OL is great. Said that already. They were great in 2015 too. But the QB play was terrible, the RBs were average at best and non-impact players added to a defense that was middle of the pack at best...all equalled..."with the 4th pick in the 2016 Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select..."

But if the line is great, why would "things get ugly with an average back"? The whole point of having a great line is that you don't need an exceptional back to have success. That and you give great protection to the QB so he doesn't have to be "lights out". If a great O-Line means you need either a terrific RB or a lights-out QB, why bother with a great OL at all?

 

[slick325]

That is an interesting point. We saw what this line was without Elliott. It didn’t look as great. That’s for sure. Terrible? IDK.

Back in 2015 it looked much better with McFadden than Randle but not as great with Murray ,so it appears the talent level at RB does matter.

Ding, ding, ding.

 

[slick325]

But if the line is great, why would "things get ugly with an average back"? The whole point of having a great line is that you don't need an exceptional back to have success. That and you give great protection to the QB so he doesn't have to be "lights out". If a great O-Line means you need either a terrific RB or a lights-out QB, why bother with a great OL at all?

Never mind. I think Zeke is a special talent which makes the team better. I think opposing teams think the same hence why HE is the main focus of D coordinators.

If you think the back doesn't matter, plug and play is your thing...ok. We have a different philosophyphilosophy.

 

[Idgit]

Not replacing Zeke with a part time back and a 7th rounder.

Florio.

 

[Diehardblues]

Any team that builds a good OL, the RB will come.

Elliott is a very good RB, generational talent is a little much with Barkley and Gurley around. There are many good RB's, in fact, in all of the positions necessary to fill a roster, it is more likely to find 32 good RB's than any other position.

LA, DAL and NY might have drawn more attention to the RB position with their recent drafts but that has not changed the game. The Pats have a good ground game every season and seldom a RB in the PB. Think he's thinking about keeping Michel when his deal is up? Hell no, he'll either draft another or get one in FA. And he puts a lot of stock in the run game.

The problem with the RB's is they want in on the payday and who can blame them, shortest lifespan in the game. However, they play the easiest position to transition in the game. And the best in the last 20 years barely sniffed the playoffs in his career. NE just keeps plugging the RB's in and are in the top 10 in rushing every season

I believe the reason for Emmitt's longevity was all about that OL. He was a great back with vision but that OL helped him avoid the big hits and the repetitive hits that put them on the sideline and watching Elliott's running style, he is going to catch some bench time. He is an injury just waiting to happen. Go ahead, pay the man and when that man is on the bench, whatchya gonna do? 11 figures for ANY RB is dumb.

While I’d agree overall the situation in NE is a tad different than here. Their QB isn’t as dependent on the running game. Our QB dependency makes our situation different than many teams, especially those with Elite QB’s.

And regardless how great our OL is will need more talent than RB by committee . Prob don’t need Elliott type talent but closer to that than Randle. Just saying..

 

[MyUnderAppreciatedQB]

We only lost Murray for a year before we found his replacement LOL

“Found”? You say this as if Zeke was plucked off some teams practice squad. He was the fourth player drafted that year.

 

[mattjames2010]

“Found”? You say this as if Zeke was plucked off some teams practice squad. He was the fourth player drafted that year.

And the year before that, we had a 1,000 yard rusher we snagged in FA. And it's not like McFadden got his yards the entire season either.

Back to back to back 1,000 yards rushers - we didn't really "learn" anything.

 

[MyUnderAppreciatedQB]

And the year before that, we had a 1,000 yard rusher we snagged in FA. And it's not like McFadden got his yards the entire season either.

Back to back to back 1,000 yards rushers - we didn't really "learn" anything.

McFadden has a nice 10 game run, but he wouldn’t have got half of those yards if her were running behind the line we had on the field last season.

 

[mattjames2010]

McFadden has a nice 10 game run, but he wouldn’t have got half of those yards if her were running behind the line we had on the field last season.

He had a nice 10 game run because of our O-Line at the time. That's the point - it's also one of the reasons PFF is harsher on grades for RB, due to them relying so much on line performance. They go as the line goes.

Zeke hasn't exactly done anything spectacular since he got here outside of volume and durability. One of which could fade, and probably will, in short time.

 

[cowboy_ron]

Zeke IS what Murray THOUGHT he was.