Has Zeke lost some of his speed?

Toruk_Makto said:

What about his 2nd year?

Does he look fast to you?

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PoetTree said:

My point in listing the disparity of those speeds is to demonstrate that a lower-recorded miles-per-hour on a football field is not necessarily indicative that a player has become athletically slower. Seems a lot of y'all don't understand what happens to NFL athletes once they're drafted out of college, where no matter how good they were, no matter matter how in-shape, they could never achieve the same level of athleticism as they do once becoming professional athletes.

Most college players haven't even finished physically maturing until 2-3 years after they're drafted (humans are fully grown around 25-years-old), and in college had, you know, "college" to focus on --classes, tests, papers, projects. It's not until they get to the NFL that working-out becomes their full-time job and they reshape their bodies into professional athletes.

Between natural physical maturation & the world-class strength and conditioning programs these guys get into as NFL Players, virtually every one of them becomes bigger, faster, stronger, and better --athletically-- across the board. Starters tend to improve --physically-- for the first 2-3 years of their careers; and then their knowledge of the game coincides with their enhanced physical ability & that's a big reason why promising young players are said to have "bright futures", because in a few years they should be even better than when they're drafted, superior athletes who have learned the nuances of the game & can put it all together.

Which is why I'm scoffing at the notion here that Zeke, or Fournette, have "lost speed" since their rookie years. No, they haven't, even if the circumstances that allowed them to hit the right runway to record those top-speeds hasn't been present since. That, too, is the nature of football.

Anybody remember how DYNAMIC Julius Jones looked in his rookie season, when defenses had no film on him? Only to then come out and be unable to replicate his initial success. Why? Was it because he was suddenly less of an athlete? Lost speed, strength, or agility?

No.

He just had a limited skill-set that got figured out by year-2 and it became harder to gain yards against well-prepared defenses. Anyone could see how much fitter Julius was in his second season. No matter, he never broke long, fast runs like he had in his rookie year ever* again.

*(that's not true, he did have two more dominant runs in his career; Saints, Panthers)

It wasn't because he was slower, as many in this thread keep trying to theorize is the case with Zeke. Rather, there were a number of factors inherent to the game of professional football that conspired to make those lanes, those runways, and that success less attainable, despite Julius being a superior athlete to his rookie self in season-2.

Ezekiel Elliott turned 24-years-old less than two-months ago. This is a young man, who may not yet even be fully matured as an athlete, which every report available to the public attests is in the best shape of his life. He's playing 2019 at a lighter weight than he came in as a rookie, and much more finely-tuned.

He's been in an NFL strength-&-conditioning program for three-straight-seasons.

I guarantee you that if 2019 lined up alongside 2016 Ezekiel Elliott, he'd edge him in a race.

--even if Next Gen Stats hasn't recorded him achieving a maximum velocity on the football field as fast as his rookie-self once managed. That result is circumstantial in nature, not athletic.


Physically, this is the best Zeke we've ever seen. If the opportunity arises for Zeke to hit an alleyway and totally turn on the jets, I suspect you'll see his speed recorded above 21mph again, depending on the circumstances, & that it will take a very fast man to run him down from behind.

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Aviano90 said:

You're deflecting.

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Aviano90 said:

I don't care if he can beat himself in a race. I care about what he does on a football field. That's what matters and he looks slower to many people, including myself, on the football field. The objective data even backs that up regardless of how you try to explain it away. When he has had space to hit top speed, his top speed has been less beginning in 2017 than it was measured at in 2016.

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Aviano90 said:

Not even sure why this is a debate. It's like people are offended that people notice he's not playing as fast as he used to.

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PoetTree said:

No, I'm explaining.




The question I responded to, which I believe this thread is about, was whether or not Zeke has "lost speed" since his rookie season. As such, I think it's relevant whether his 2019 self would out-race his 2016 self, which I believe is the case & have explained my logic for why.

That's not deflecting anything; it's merely providing for why I have the perspective I do.




I don't think people are debating whether or not Zeke has been recorded as fast as he was in his rookie season, ever since. He hasn't. But for that matter, neither have Leonard Fournette, Todd Gurley, or Saquon Barkley. My contention is that the reason(s) for that have nothing to do with Zeke being athletically slower than he was in 2016; i.e. answering the thread's query about whether or not Zeke has "lost speed".

I don't believe he has, for the reasons I've explained.

Much like we did with Gurley under McVay, I think we are apt to see a resurgence of big-plays by Zeke under Kellen Moore & with Dak's evolution as a passer...

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Aviano90 said:

Fair enough. So some people think he has lost speed, others think he hasn't. No real way to find out so people can believe what they want absent anything definitive.

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BHendri5 said:

Zeke is like Emmitt, he was never a homerun runner. but if he gets out there he is hard to run down, just like Emmitt was, but he is not a homerun hitter.

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dfense said:

Like Emmitt minus the alusiveness, vision and 130 more TDs.

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TheRomoSexual said:

Oh please. Zeke has best vision in the league. Are you people forgetting he had two out of the last three rushing titles? If he is the leading rusher this year, he’ll be one behind Smith.

Cowboys fans are silly and spoiled.

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dfense said:

He had 100 more carries than the next closest player. He should win the title. And it's just me saying that, not Cowboys fans or "us people". I'm not a corporation. I'm not knocking Zeke, but he had 6 TDs last year. Emmitt was best ever inside the 10. Emmitt had the "vision" to make people miss. Zeke just runs into them.

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TheRomoSexual said:

How many TDS did Zeke have his rookie season? How many TDs did Smith have his 1997 season?

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CalPolyTechnique said:

Lulz, going back four seasons to try and make a point.

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clff15701 said:

I will say the man earns his money and is a stud RB but I cant help but think he was faster in his rookie year. I just dont see zeke breaking alot of those long runs like he did his rookie year.

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TheRomoSexual said:

Oh please. Zeke has best vision in the league. Are you people forgetting he had two out of the last three rushing titles? If he is the leading rusher this year, he’ll be one behind Smith.

Cowboys fans are silly and spoiled.

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stilltheguru said:

Yall still running your mouths. Wait until your next best rb in the league misses a game. B b but Zekes just luckyyyyyyy

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TheRomoSexual said:

How many TDS did Zeke have his rookie season? How many TDs did Smith have his 1997 season?

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dfense said:

Without looking, are you comparing one's worst to one's best? lol. Zeke's a beast, but he's no Emmitt.

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TheRomoSexual said:

If he’s no Smith, then why is he averaging more yards per carry? Smith only averaged 4.7 or more yards (Zeke’s career average) twice.

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TheRomoSexual said:

Lulz, remember how you said we should have drafted Ramsey the headcase? Lulz questioning a back averaging over 5 yards a carry this season.

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