Cowboys fans have short memories about RBs

[America's Cowboy]

Dak is no Troy.... different times with different staffs and different teammates. Switch them and see what happens. You can't, so we'll never know. Emmitt was at the right place in the right time.

For as good as Troy was during those Super Bowl years of the early-to-mid 90s, he was average his first few years and his last 3-4 years when he no longer had that talent surrounding him. Emmitt didn't have anywhere close to having the highest paid Oline the way Zeke has. Difference is that Oline of the 90s performed so much better due to better coaching, something Zeke's highest paid Oline has not had. Hope this new Oline coach pushes them to play up to how much they are being paid. It would go a long way to help out Zeke, Dak and our WRs.

 

[MyFairLady]

Perhaps I may feel differently if Zeke held out after carrying the team to a super bowl win instead of being a guy on an average team who just one year before was suspended for 6 games.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

That looks true on paper, but before they ever played a game, if Barry and Emmitt were both sitting there on draft day, you know Jimmy would have taken Barry over Emmitt. Barry would have been great in any offense. He was HOF great in Detroit where he was dodging tacklers in the backfield on most carries. Emmitt was clearly better than Thomas, in my opinion.

I don't agree with this. Sanders would not have been great in any Offense. He wasn't suited to a ball control offense IMO.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I disagree. Tyrone Crawford is about to lose a boatload of money. DeMarcus Ware lost money when he was cut and he is one of the best Cowboys ever.

Very well, restructures occur with Guaranteed money. So if a player gets his contract restructured they are either doing it with guaranteed money or they make money that was not guaranteed a guaranteed deal. The players get the money that is owed to them. The NFL can not not pay a player money that is guaranteed. It's against the rules.

 

[Ranching]

True, Coach, but he does have the highest paid Oline in the whole league...by far. Plus, Dak, Amari and Gallup are pretty good productive teammates just like Troy, Irvin and Harper were for Emmitt. The only difference was the coaching, but Zeke's defense finished ranked 11th last year. Not bad for a Marinelli run defense.

And his yards were comparable to Emmitt, so there was something else lacking.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Were you on this site in 2016? Things have changed a lot since then. The Zeke turn happened when he wanted to get paid sooner rather than later in fear this team would run him into the ground and move on. The Dak turn happened his rookie year when Romo didn't get his job back. Some were fine with him thinking he was just keeping the seat warm for Romo but once Romo never got that job back......Dak became a enemy.

I've been on this site for much longer then 2016. Long before Zeke or Dak.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I've been on this site for much longer then 2016. Long before Zeke or Dak.

Ok then you should know what I'm talking about.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Ok then you should know what I'm talking about.

No, I don't. There are always posters who are in the moment but there were lots of posters here who didn't buy into all of that. Show me posters.

 

[Bobhaze]

There are a lot of Cowboys fans on this forum and elsewhere that seem to have short memories about the RB position. Particularly when it comes to the criticism of paying Zeke the contract he signed.
There is some validity to the RB position is expendable and that most wear down before the contract is up.
But, I think Zeke is a special RB and is a mold-breaker, much like Emmitt was.
Emmitt played for over a decade at a high level. Zeke looks to be the type of RB who will excel longer than the average time frame for RBs. He has no history of getting hurt and seems to have the build/athleticism to endure at a high level for multiple years. Now, could he suffer an injury and affect his longevity but that's the nature of the beast.
His contract is basically a 3 year deal, starting this season, for the guarantees and I think he should have no problem justifying the pay given his performance and importance to the team. Many RBs that sign big deals get them out of luck due to having a breakout season and then they either get injured or revert back to their true selves and reveal themselves as average RBs who can be replaced.
Zeke is an exceptional RB specimen and if healthy, he should be the bell cow for more than 3 years and justify his contract.

I’m not a big fan of putting big cap space into a RB, especially in today’s game where the running game is more complimentary than dominant. IMO, since this FO has been so committed to paying big bucks for the OL, they should be able to have less expensive RBs have success.

The other thing for me is this- Zeke is an excellent NFL RB...top 3 for sure. But that won’t last very long, and I would argue at his carry load he is already in decline. Put it this way- will he ever be as good as he was in 2016? No.

Some questions worth asking about Zeke:

• Q-Will he be “worth it” in 3 years?
• A- No, I think Zeke will be half as good by 2022.
• Q- Is Zeke a “generational talent”, meaning HOFer or the best player at that position for at least a decade?
  
• A- No. Someone like Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith were “generational talent”. In 20 years, I don’t see Zeke being evaluated as a HOFer. Hope I’m wrong but I think he lacks the drive and commitment it takes to be that kind of player.

Again, in today’s NFL, having a “bell cow” RB is vastly overrated.
I don’t”hate” Zeke. I just disagree with the value this FO has for him.

 

[Gameover]

Zeke Elliot is the most overrated player in franchise history

1. Zeke -
2. Dez
3. Witten

Most Underrated
1. Irvin - early career injury and suspension in last year of his peak prevent Irvin from being recognized as the true all time great that he was

2. Demarco Murray - It took Garrett 2 1/2 seasons to realize it was time to hitch his wagon to Murray. My favorite player post 90s . I loved watching Murray run

3. Dak Prescott - The guy is literally an infants fingernail a way from being the BEST PLAYER in the nation football league. Hopefully Dak reaches his potential under MM

Honorable mention: Troy Aikman. If only Jimmy had lasted another 4 or 5 seasons!

overrated does not mean I think a player can’t still be great at what he does.

If half the people think a player is overrated, then that player isn’t overrated , to me.

An overrated player to me is a player who is unquestionably considered great by at least 90% of the public

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

No, I don't. There are always posters who are in the moment but there were lots of posters here who didn't buy into all of that. Show me posters.

You know who the posters are there's no reason for me to call them out. If you want me to private message them to you I'll happily do it.

 

[buybuydandavis]

There are a lot of Cowboys fans on this forum and elsewhere that seem to have short memories about the RB position. Particularly when it comes to the criticism of paying Zeke the contract he signed.
There is some validity to the RB position is expendable and that most wear down before the contract is up.
But, I think Zeke is a special RB and is a mold-breaker, much like Emmitt was.
Emmitt played for over a decade at a high level. Zeke looks to be the type of RB who will excel longer than the average time frame for RBs. He has no history of getting hurt and seems to have the build/athleticism to endure at a high level for multiple years.

Emmit didn't last a decade at a high level. Emmit's last great year was 1995. He was meh after that, never more than 4.2ypc. An ok back, but not one you should be paying top money for.

For Zeke, the forecast is worse. Go look at his numbers. Look at his play. His athleticism has clearly slid *already*. His best season by far was his rookie season, when he was the All Pro league stud. Hasn't been the same since.

Note that this slide has occurred without significant injuries, and with one half season of rest. Most RBs don't last. Emmit was an exception to this. Zeke is not turning out to be. Looks like he'll still be a good back for a couple seasons more. But we're paying too much for just "good".

 

[Kaiser]

You don't think other top RBs with hefty contracts don't have clauses in pay just like Zeke received with his new contract last year? Of course they do. I bet it still makes Zeke one of the top 3 highest paid RBs.

Yes, over time it definitely does. But Zeke is in the top three and deserves to be paid like it. But his contract was team friendly in how the signing bonus and early salaries were structured, my main point is that his total deal is 90 Million but with only 50 million guaranteed over time he may not end up the highest paid RB at the end of the day.

 

[Kaiser]

Very well, restructures occur with Guaranteed money. So if a player gets his contract restructured they are either doing it with guaranteed money or they make money that was not guaranteed a guaranteed deal. The players get the money that is owed to them. The NFL can not not pay a player money that is guaranteed. It's against the rules.

Sure but Zeke's new deal only has 50 Million guaranteed. For comparison the Rams either have paid or will pay Gurley 51 Million for his five seasons there and they just cut him to avoid the nonguaranteed amounts that were about to hit them.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Emmitt: quicker, more jukes, more determination especially in short yardage or at the goal line, more heart.

Emmitt: better vision, better contact balance. It's the vision that makes him better in short yardage.

Luv Pollard's contact balance, but he doesn't have much vision. Still looking to see him after an NFL offseason. A little bit more power and burst and he'll be able to do some damage.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

You know who the posters are there's no reason for me to call them out. If you want me to private message them to you I'll happily do it.

I see a lot but it's not necessarily what you see. I see posters on both sides. Two sides of the same coin. I see posters in the middle. There is no right or wrong here. There are posters who see things differently. doesn't mean any one side is right and any one side is wrong IMO.

 

[Swagger]

We have won more games as a result of Elliott than Prescott imo. Always been a big fan of Elliott. He has a unique skill set and just needs to be fed the ball.

 

[lane]

If the Cowboys would have drafted Tony Pollard in 1993, Emmitt Smith would not be the league's leading rusher.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I see a lot but it's not necessarily what you see. I see posters on both sides. Two sides of the same coin. I see posters in the middle. There is no right or wrong here. There are posters who see things differently. doesn't mean any one side is right and any one side is wrong IMO.

Yeah that's not what I'm referring to. I'm speaking on the tone of people changing on Dak and Zeke. Has nothing to do with disagreements.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Yeah that's not what I'm referring to. I'm speaking on the tone of people changing on Dak and Zeke. Has nothing to do with disagreements.

Well, this fan base has always been hard on QBs, which is why it's such a big deal to be the QB of this team. Most fans on this board don't remember what it was like for Meredith or Roger and Mortan, or Danny White or even Troy early on. Most fans here remember Romo and now Dak. Cowboy QBs have had it hard for a very long time and for good reason. We've had great QBs here and if you are going to be counted among them, fans aren't going to go easy on that and they shouldn't. I've seen people compare Dak to Troy and Roger and even say he is better then those guys. I've seen many posters compare him to Tony and say that he is better and I'm here to tell you that he isn't even close at this point in his career IMO. He may end up being all those things but he's not close right now IMO. This is why. They don't like it. I get it.