50 Execs, Coaches, Players rank the best RB's

[QuincyCarterEra]

Its because I actually watched Barkley last year.....and if you have 100 yards in a game but 70 of them came on one carry would you consider that still a good game? He had a few of those games last year.

I don't think Barkley is bad I just assumed he was hurt last year.

Ohhh but now you're changing what constitutes a "bad" or "blah" season.

So we now agree that 1K yards doesnt make it a good season.

If you watched Zeke in 2017 and thought he was anything other than terrible then it was through blue and silver glasses.

 

[StuckMojo]

You should just be a Giants fan since you hate the Cowboys so much.

No way he is a Cowboys fan, he’s a joke

 

[aria]

Its because I actually watched Barkley last year.....and if you have 100 yards in a game but 70 of them came on one carry would you consider that still a good game? He had a few of those games last year.

I don't think Barkley is bad I just assumed he was hurt last year.

Behind the Giants O line and with a high ankle sprain and with no real receiving threats and with a rookie QB or old Eli...yeah, I would consider 50 yards a good game, no matter how he got them, which is something zeke failed to do not once, not twice, not three rimes but four times with one of the best run blocking O lines in the league last year, a much better QB and much better receivers.

 

[aria]

No way he is a Cowboys fan, he’s a joke

What’s a joke is homers who can’t see through their clouded blue glasses. It’s ok for people to bash Dak for doing everything right on and off the field but I’m not a Cowboys fan because I don’t like one of the biggest distractions this team has ever had. A guy who bullies people and sat out with two years left on his contract.

You are the joke homer.

 

[Corso]

Agree on all of the above. He's the best for what this team needs........

Right?
He's not the most elusive, he doesn't have breakaway speed, he's not the guy that played in '16, but he's still the pumping heart of the O and he gets the crowd cheering and he moves the pile, the opposing D respects him to no end and he blocks for his QB with a vengeance and his teammates know, recognize and love him for it.

He's the jackhammer on concrete. He breaks things as the game goes on.

He takes himself out? Well yeah! He's in more than almost any other player! While he's in, he's fighting.

Has he made mistakes? Yes! Both on and off the field, but that does not make him unique.

What makes him unique is one of the same things that makes Dak unique: That aura of tough. That thought of we ain't leaving and we're going to beat you down.

Maybe I'm projecting. Maybe I'm right.

 

[khiladi]

Oh you disappoint me friend, I’ve posted these stats over and over but no one wants to click on the links or admit it. Granted, some are a year old because I wasn’t able to find new ones but I wouldn’t want to include zeke’s 2019 if I were one of his supporters.

This primarily covers short yard situations
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ezekiel-elliott-is-not-worth-the-money-he-wants/

Elusiveness
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-ranking-32-starting-running-backs-elusiveness

2019 broken tackles, yards after contact, etc (sorry, no link, it was a screen shot I already posted)

McCaffrey's middle-of-the-road missed tackles forced per touch (0.19) and yards after contact per rush (2.6) numbers from the 2019 season stem partially from just how much volume he had to shoulder on the Panthers' offense. Then again, it’s OK to recognize that he wins in different areas — ability to get open as a receiver, vision, speed, burst, durability, etc. — rather than being among the league’s best at breaking away from defenders in the open field.

Notice how PFF explains McCaffery’s YAC as a result of volume.

And if one actually read the article:

Though Elliott has been considered one of the best running backs in the NFL for a while now, his elusiveness isn’t what puts him atop that pedestal. His broken tackle numbers consistently fall below average. Where Elliott wins is his ability to consistently churn out positive runs, rarely getting stuffed for no gain and converting his runs into first downs or touchdowns at one of the highest rates in the NFL.

So basically, broken tackles are often obfuscated by the fact that your dealing with multiple defenders close to the LOS, lowering the average, while breaking a tackle in open space is completely different.

 

[aria]

Zeke was sub par last year and it had a lot to do with his hold out,i expect huge numbers for him this season because teams will now want to stop our passing attack first .

I think this very well could be the case. Allegedly we will have possibly the best trio of receivers in the league and a top O line which is something no other RB will have.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Behind the Giants O line and with a high ankle sprain and with no real receiving threats and with a rookie QB or old Eli...yeah, I would consider 50 yards a good game, no matter how he got them, which is something zeke failed to do not once, not twice, not three rimes but four times with one of the best run blocking O lines in the league last year, a much better QB and much better receivers.

Somebody has to get the yards.....who else is gonna get it? He has no receivers like you stated and no running backs and no quarterback....so who's left to rack up the yards? The running back.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Ohhh but now you're changing what constitutes a "bad" or "blah" season.

So we now agree that 1K yards doesnt make it a good season.

If you watched Zeke in 2017 and thought he was anything other than terrible then it was through blue and silver glasses.

Zeke was bad earlier on yes. He salvaged his season that year......if he was terrible the whole league was. Mind you...the only reason people said he was bad because of the stupid 2000 yard predictions people put on him.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Right?
He's not the most elusive, he doesn't have breakaway speed, he's not the guy that played in '16, but he's still the pumping heart of the O and he gets the crowd cheering and he moves the pile, the opposing D respects him to no end and he blocks for his QB with a vengeance and his teammates know, recognize and love him for it.

He's the jackhammer on concrete. He breaks things as the game goes on.

He takes himself out? Well yeah! He's in more than almost any other player! While he's in, he's fighting.

Has he made mistakes? Yes! Both on and off the field, but that does not make him unique.

What makes him unique is one of the same things that makes Dak unique: That aura of tough. That thought of we ain't leaving and we're going to beat you down.

Maybe I'm projecting. Maybe I'm right.

You know coming into the league I expected him to be more a burner guy but man he's actually a jackhammer like you described. I did not see him being as physical as he is.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

Zeke was bad earlier on yes. He salvaged his season that year......if he was terrible the whole league was. Mind you...the only reason people said he was bad because of the stupid 2000 yard predictions people put on him.

No, he was terrible because he was terrible and didn't salvage a thing.

There weren't 5 startes in the league that would have averaged 4.1 yards per carry or less behind that OL. He was running in mud. If he was anything but terrible the rest of the league was elite.

No, the reason he was bad is because he was bad. Don't put that on projections or whatever else, he sucked.

 

[aria]

Somebody has to get the yards.....who else is gonna get it? He has no receivers like you stated and no running backs and no quarterback....so who's left to rack up the yards? The running back.

Ohhhhhhhhhh but that’s not the excuse we heard during zeke’s first, second, and part of third year. It was “he has no good weapons around him so defenses focus on stopping him, he could get a lot more yards if they respected Dak or our receivers”.

So which is it? I’m guessing whatever makes zeke look better at that specific time.

 

[aria]

You know coming into the league I expected him to be more a burner guy but man he's actually a jackhammer like you described. I did not see him being as physical as he is.

CJ Anderson was the jackhammer and zeke was the concrete in the playoff game vs the Rams but CJ cost a fraction of what zeke costs and was picked up as a FA by the Rams half way through the season. Rams fans were freaking out that they wouldn‘t succeed without Gurley, just as a lot of Cowboys fans would think the same without zeke, and they didn’t skip a beat just as the Cowboys wouldn’t skip a beat.

 

[khiladi]

If the Giants gave no WRs as a reason why Barkley doesn’t do better, why is it that teams just played them two deep soft zone on his best year:

https://www.nj.com/giants/2018/10/saquon_barkley_giants_need_to_see_soft_zone_covera.html

Can somebody explain why he’s consistently getting negative yardage on multiple runs and he’s been known for this since college:

f Barkley is healthy — and the ridiculous spin to escape a tackle for loss Sunday suggests that he is — then maybe this prolonged lull is just a part of his all-or-nothing running style. He finished with 17 carries for 59 yards (including a long of 22 on his last run) in a loss to the Bears, and he hasn’t topped 72 rushing yards in five games since returning from a three-game absence due to a high ankle sprain.

https://nypost.com/2019/11/25/saquon-barkleys-rare-flaw-is-rearing-its-ugly-head/

It looks like a lot of excuses for a guy people can claim can rush in attempts the like of Zeke.

 

[Corso]

CJ Anderson was the jackhammer and zeke was the concrete in the playoff game vs the Rams but CJ cost a fraction of what zeke costs and was picked up as a FA by the Rams half way through the season. Rams fans were freaking out that they wouldn‘t succeed without Gurley, just as a lot of Cowboys fans would think the same without zeke, and they didn’t skip a beat just as the Cowboys wouldn’t skip a beat.

That Cowboys D sure showed up that game. They weren't concrete. They were matadors.

 

[khiladi]

I don't rank Zeke 11th. That's too low. But he's just not that guy from his rookie year, and I doubt he will ever be that guy again.

Morris had significantly better ypc in 2017, Pollard in 2019.
Rod Smith was the only other back with significant carries in 2018, and he was a special teamer who couldn't merit a single carry with TEN or OAK last year and Morris was starting.

I'm not pretending that Morris or Pollard are better than Zeke. Their ypc is not an apples to apples comparison, because surely teams didn't try to defend against them as they defended against Zeke. But Zeke's production can be replaced. With an NFL offseason of training, Pollard will probably look a lot more competitive with Zeke as a RB. He's ok now, and could be a legitimate quality starter with a little more power and explosion.

Zeke just isn't that special anymore, and certainly not at the price. I'd say his contract is already bad value, and that's unlikely to improve as he gets older.

Morris averaged 3.51 against stacked boxes on 2017 and Zeke averaged 4. Morris scores 1 TD. Dallas didn’t beat a single winning team and Dak couldn’t break 10 points against them when Zeke was suspended.

 

[khiladi]

Dude shut up and take your L little buddy

There's no coming back from that



I've been taking volume into account, lmao that was I brought up touches. Lol lame attempt.

Theres no such thing as "% of yards per rush" YOU JUST KEEP DIGGING YOURSELF DEEPER

Digging myself deeper.. What I stated was:

In Barkley’s best year, 56.3% of his rushing yards came after contact. Elliott average last year was 58.5 percent. And Barkley is a home run hitter who racks up negative yardage regularly. Gurley, who was number 2 in 2018, it was 50% of his rushing yards came after contact. And both Barkley and Gurley are lots of space.

None of you guys brought anything of value to the table. We all know it’s that Dak narrative fueling you. We’ve already seen Dak without Elliott and Cooper.

More of Zeke’s yards as a PERCENTAGE, NOT JUST VOLUME, came after contact than either Barkley or Gurley. So it isn’t just about touches.

Like I said, Barkley produces more negative yardage carries and it’s not even close. He’s been known for this throughout career, including college.

And it’s funny, your talking about me providing evidence from 2018, when all you Dak homers and Zeke haters are doing is using 2018 as some standard, which was an anomaly and even then, Zeke was on par with both Henry and McCaffery in the red zone for example.

 

[CowboyRoy]

If he had Kyle Shanahan as coach he would've had a better year than he did last year. Can't use Garrett as the excuse for why Dak sucks but not the same for when Zeke struggles.

Zeke is far better than anyone the 49ers has and its not even any comparison. I don't care what their YPC is.

LOL...…...I never said Dak sucks.

I never even mentioned Garrett. Heck, I never even said Zeke sucks.

Maybe if you keep changing the subject, you might get something right.

 

[aria]

That Cowboys D sure showed up that game. They weren't concrete. They were matadors.

I would also think a guy who demanded to be paid as the best at his position, and who many fans say is the best, would have gained more than 47 yards in any game, let alone a playoff game, especially considering he had a top 10 O line blocking for him that year.

 

[khiladi]

He argued me down about how Dak is bad in the redzone. I was going to take his word for it to until he said he's as good as Fitzpatrick. I knew then there was a angle there and when I digged into it....Dak actually is better in the redzone than Mahomes and Russ but of course he didn't mention that lol. Then he did this same charade he's doing with you talking about "volume" lol.

That’s not what happened. What I stated was Dak was mediocre in the red zone, which he was, and Dallas was 16th in the red zone and 22nd on the road in the red zone.

And I said if your going to make a comparison, than Tannehil, with Henry and Dak with Zeke. And he wasn’t anywhere near Wilson, who threw 60% for 15 TDs from 10 yards out, while Dak was a whopping 47% for 7 TDs and that’s with a RG.

And I also said Mahomes didn’t play a full season and they still scored more in the red zone, I.e they were 11, and to end the season in the last three games, they were 80%. Last year KC was over 70%, while the last two years Dallas has been at 50%. And this year, you can’t blame Zeke, who was right up there with Henry and McCaffery.