Bringing Zeke back actually makes us a worse team!

[Buzzbait]

"we"?
You are mixing up your arguments or not remembering properly. "SOME" expected Tony to perform as RB1 LEAD horse. Even though he'd never done it before. Most agree he didn't.
Zeke might get that designation by default...not by expectations. He was signed to shore it up not lead the league.
And star is right....the real screaming was/should be to fix this oline and scheme. NONE of our RB's have been particularly impressive the last few years. Why is that?
It needs fixed no matter who carries.

Agreed on fixing the OL, and I think the fix just got drafted, but it'll probably take a year for 'em to grow up. Hopefully the scheme will improve with 'em.

 

[john van brocklin]

Best RB on the roster though.

That's true and frightening,
Both at the same time.

 

[Chasing6]

Best RB on the roster though.

Zeke leading RB by committee will be just fine.

I think Beebe is going to surprise some people once he gets settled in.

 

[plasticman]

I think it's a pretty fair deal as far as the contract goes. He's a good short yardage option given our offensive line. I think he will work well in short yardage with this group. The line is fairly young so a veteran RB might be some help there.

I could see him catch a few per game and let's not forget, he is an above average blocker. Our line will be rather inexperienced in the middle of the line so that is bound to come in handy.

So far, he is leading the "Warm Body Brigade". I would set my expectations equal to the amount of his contract.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Bringing Zeke back actually makes us a worse team!

Worst center on the team!

 

[Ring6]

when teams cut down to 90 and then 53, there will be RB options available could compete with Rico for that lead role, unless we trade for one (not likely).

Zeke will be coming in certain situations either way it goes for the lead role.

I have no idea what to expect from Deuce Vaughn or Royce Freeman.

 

[MikeT22]

He’s going to be a role player, short yardage and goal line plus some blocking situations - what part of that do you guys not get? They are still going to bring in a rb1

So a RB another team cuts after June 1st is going to be our RB1?

 

[Jipper]

So a RB another team cuts after June 1st is going to be our RB1?

Or one they trade for yup! Zeke ain't it

 

[DuncanIso]

Zeke leading RB by committee will be just fine.

I think Beebe is going to surprise some people once he gets settled in.

The CooperB pick was outstanding.

 

[morasp]

Right. Other than him being younger than Aaron Jones, I can't see why that move is being cast in a positive light after Jones averaged 4.6 per carry and ran over us in the playoffs. I mean, I applaud them for at least drafting a back to go with him and Dillon.

I guess, their justification for what they gave Jacobs was his 2022 season, but frankly, that's been the outlier in his career. He's been a 4.0 or under back the other three years.

I don't hate the Zeke signing but when I looked up the four teams in the conference championship games all of them had a rusher or two with over 4.5 yards.

Chiefs
Pacheco 4.56

Lions
Gibbs 5.19
Montgomery 4.63

49ers
McCaffrey 5.36

Ravens
Jackson 5.5

 

[noshame]

He was brought in to protect Lance.

 

[Sydla]

There can be a vast difference in 4.0 averages. The hope with Elliott is that he's get 3.5/4 yards more consistently than Pollard did. Pollard was not a between-the-tackles runner, which is where our team wanted to run for some reason. If you get 1 yard and your next carry gets 9, that first carry is going to set up second-and-9 or third-and-9 and you are more than likely going to be trying to pass for a first down before the back is going to get that next carry. If your back gets 3.5 on first down, there's a 50/50 chance that the next play is a run too.

The running game was not good enough last year because it too often put us behind the eight-ball. Elliott doesn't have to average more than Pollard did to not do that, he just has to more consistently pick up positive yardage. I don't know if he can, but I believe this is what they are seeking from him. 4 yards can be effective when it is second-and-4 or third-and-4 and defenses can't just ignore the run. If it's second-and-10 or third-and-6, then defenses know a pass is most likely.

This is quite the rationalization. And stats would seem to cast a bit of doubt on it. Pollard had a higher avg on 1st and 10 than Zeke did, for example.

 

[doomsday9084]

I would argue that the history of the run game for the past few years is this:
- Zeke has been slowly declining since his rookie year. Father time is undefeated. His lack of burst really hurts his averages. Before he left, the team would have the play blocked for a big gain and he would only get 5 because he didn't have the footspeed to get to the next level before it closed. This isn't coming back.
- Pollard was dam good. He was getting the same plays as Zeke and he did have the burst. His metrics were among the best in the league running. This wasn't just because he was a scat back or RB2.
- Pollard got hurt and he wasn't recovered to start last year.
- The team changed the run scheme to Solari and Schottenheimer's mess. The run plays last year were conceptually terrible.

IMO, the problem hasn't been the O line. There is a reason why they continuously get good PFF grades and accolades. They do their job better than most O lines. The problem comes when you intentionally leave a DE unblocked, everyone can do their job right and you can still lose yards.

I don't see this problem getting fixed. IMO, Solari and Schottenheimer + Zeke is going to be an all time worst combination. Its going to be laughably bad as Zeke gets continuously taken down in the backfield. When they do block everything right, Zeke is only going to get 4 to 5 yards due to his lack of speed to get to the next level.

Hopefully I am wrong.

 

[Gambit]

.how does it make us a worse team?

It's not the name people wanted? I mean there was actual rueage over Zack Moss.....

 

[Gambit]

The ONLY reason I could see that they would bring Zeke back is his blocking ability in passing situations. He sure as heck can't run anymore. Dowdle or Davis would run circles around Zeke.

Short yardage pick up dirty yards on 3rd short
Goal line back who can actually score from the 2 yrs line
Veteran leadership to a young RB room

Three more reasons.

 

[jsb357]

we like our guys....

 

[Sydla]

Short yardage pick up dirty yards on 3rd short
Goal line back who can actually score from the 2 yrs line
Veteran leadership to a young RB room

Three more reasons.

Except some of the stats show he might not be the RZ and short yardage king people are making him out to be.

This is just the warm body theory at work here. Yes, having a third TB instead of just Dowdle and Vaughn certainly can't make us "worse". But is Elliott the "improvement" that we all thought this team needed coming out of 2023? Of course not. He's a JAG at this point in his career. This is treading water........... which seems to be the Jones' strategy nowadays.

 

[Sydla]

I think you have every right to be concerned that the cowboys didnt select a RB for the second year in a row. Weapons matter!! I dont believe that WR by committee is the same thing as RBBC I think thats a poor analogy. The only way i can get behind that is Jerry was stupid in both cases. WR spread the field, Get separation, make the defense gameplan a particular way

Not all RBs are created equal i agree but i think we can succeed with RBBC, even though Id rather have a Bijan Robinson or Jaymair Gibbs. I dont think we can get by with WR's that cant run routes or get separation or has the dropsies but thas just me.

Am i devaluing the RB position probably. I think well be ok with RBBC if the line gels and creaes holes

The point about the committees is thinking that grouping together a bunch of mediocre players can add up to a successful group. It didn't work at WR and frankly, it's not likely to work at RB either with the current group we have.

And note, I am a guy that absolutely thinks spending tons of money on a RB or using a Top 10 pick or even first round pick on one is wasted assets. But there is a chasm between doing that and then coming back and thinking Dowdle, Elliott and Vaughn can help "fix" our running game woes that we all lamented from last year.

 

[Jarntt]

This move baffles me to no end. I loved Zeke back during his first few seasons but the time has passed him by. He’s acceptable at best and I think signing him actually makes us a worse team. This gives us no advantage and he doesn’t have any upside. He wasn’t that good for us two years ago and now he’s even older and slower.

This was an abysmal move. Guarantee you Dak tossed an idea for management to sign his former friend or something.

Zeke is not very good any more, but for this team and at that salary it was a good signing and makes us better than the day before we signed him. That doesn’t mean we should have been in a such a crappy situation with regards to our RB room or that we won’t stop trying to improve it before the start of the season but Freeman and Vaughn are better than him he makes the team a little better. Right now I see Rico as the best back on the team and Zeke the second best. Even if he is just in there to pass protect and get a handful of carries per game he makes us better than we would be without him.

 

[khiladi]

This move baffles me to no end. I loved Zeke back during his first few seasons but the time has passed him by. He’s acceptable at best and I think signing him actually makes us a worse team. This gives us no advantage and he doesn’t have any upside. He wasn’t that good for us two years ago and now he’s even older and slower.

This was an abysmal move. Guarantee you Dak tossed an idea for management to sign his former friend or something.

It depends what their intent is. You think they really made this move to improve, since it’s 1 year? Dak is on his last year, Lamb finishes his contract and even MM is on his last year. They didn’t exercise Lance’s option after this year. This is all about 2025…