ESPN: Zeke Elliott will have to grow up under a harsh glare

[AbeBeta]

How about the illegal, non marijuana, drugs? Any alarms for that?

People experiment with drugs in college?

 

[mattjames2010]

Haha, just more and more I'm starting to hate drafting this kid.

 

[Denim Chicken]

How about the illegal, non marijuana, drugs? Any alarms for that?

Has he ever failed a test?--nope.
Did it hurt his draft stock from the people researching it?--nope.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Has he ever failed a test?--nope.
Did it hurt his draft stock from the people researching it?--nope.

well.....we would not know if he has ever failed a drug test

 

[DallasDomination]

Anyone drafted by us at #4 would of been picked apart under a microscope. If it was Ramsey they would say he's a bust. If it was Bosa they would say he's a team cancer.

Zeke hasn't played that well so he's getting tossed around the ringer. I hope this kid has a good head because he's gotta know how to handle this kind of pressure.

 

[mattjames2010]

Anyone drafted by us at #4 would of been picked apart under a microscope. If it was Ramsey they would say he's a bust. If it was Bosa they would say he's a team cancer.

Zeke hasn't played that well so he's getting tossed around the ringer. I hope this kid has a good head because he's gotta know how to handle this kind of pressure.

Seems like a good guy, but he's not handling the pressure. I'm hoping for a Trent Richardson move this offseason, I simply don't think he has anything special to offer. Sadly, since that Trent Richardson pick was a debacle, we'd probably get a 3rd rounder and a can of beans for him.

 

[MRV52]

Looks like he has been sheltered in a weed store.

 

[superonyx]

I was reading and waiting for something interesting to come from that article.
I felt the anti Zeke slant when they decided to not mention his ex girlfriend getting caught makinging up the story of him hitting her... Funny how they used the story to paint him in a negative immature light and then never let him off the hook for not actually doing anything wrong.

They had an agenda and they couldn't even complete the smear.

Nothing to see here at all.

 

[CouchCoach]

What does anyone expect? The boy is still wearing his Onesie shirt. C'mon, you saw how he showed up dressed for the draft, he's a big kid. And how about visiting the Weedmart in SEA, think that's mature thinking?

Remember Tyson Smith when we got him? He was a really big kid and had some stuff to work out.

LOL, my Dad didn't move to my college town.............and he should have! If that had been me, I might have been just wearing the missing part of the shirt.

Everyone matures at a different pace, and some never do, and just because he's a high draft pick doesn't mean that helps in the maturation process. He was a celebrity in Columbus but that didn't prepare him for being a Cowboy and many thinking he's the next Tony or Emmitt.

 

[ConceptCoop]

People experiment with drugs in college?

Yeah. Josh Gordon, Justin Blackmon, Martavis Bryant and our own Randy Gregory did it plenty, I'm sure.

Are we really going to pretend there are no red flags here? Why do you think NFL teams do so much research on these guys, if they're going to write it all off as being a college kid?

I'm not saying it will come back to bite him, but there is surely some smoke there.

 

[ConceptCoop]

Has he ever failed a test?--nope.
Did it hurt his draft stock from the people researching it?--nope.

I agree that we shouldn't have the same expectations for Elliott as we would someone who actually had failed a test and hurt their draft stock. I agree. I don't agree that none of this matters. Plenty of guys in his shoes did have it end up mattering. Plenty grew up and were just fine. I'm not saying he's going to bust or get suspended. I'm just saying that these things do matter, especially when they start to add up has they have been with Elliott. It's a lot of small stuff right now and I hope it stays that way. But, again, I think there's some valid room for concern.

 

[Diehardblues]

He'll be fine if he stays away from the drugs and women in Dallas.

 

[erod]

Apparently not too sheltered to love him some weed and smoke out with crazy strippers.

 

[Jstopper]

Haha, just more and more I'm starting to hate drafting this kid.

Not surprising

 

[chicago JK]

It is a tough place to excel. If you fall short you get a lot of national and local scorn. It may be even tougher to deal when you have success. The owner is quick to give praise and tends to raise the bar very high too quick.

I always thought Dallas was tough because of the national glare. If you are losing, you are usually front page news or first block reporting on ESPN. If you are winning, everyone is telling you how good your are and how you already made it. There a few places similar to Dallas but I think the Owner wanted to show how good a GM he is, makes the situation worse.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Not to worry -- his daddy's gonna follow him to Dallas and babysit him day and night . . . that'll teach him to party!

Better Dad than a guy like David Wells... ijs

 

[Common Sense]

Totally puts the poor play and conditioning into perspective, doesn't it?

 

[mattjames2010]

Not surprising

Give me ANY positives about drafting him thus far

- Showed up to camp out of shape
- Injured in training camp
- Only a few reps in the preseason
- Mediocre first game
- Disastrous second game

Now his father is reporting he's not handling the stardom well? Give me a break with the excuses already. It was one thing to not jump to conclusions on the whole weed fiasco, but when it's seeming already that he's breaking mentally in two games, these are some serious red flags.

And as for the "not surprising", I have always said Zeke would give McCoy like production at his ceiling. That means a good back, not worth a top 5, but he would be a good back. So, it's not as though I've disliked him as a prospect. But he's right there in line with Gregory as having one of the worst starts on this team in recent memory. If he's breaking mentally already, get him off the team.

 

[Jstopper]

Give me ANY positives about drafting him thus far

- Showed up to camp out of shape
- Injured in training camp
- Only a few reps in the preseason
- Mediocre first game
- Disastrous second game

Now his father is reporting he's not handling the stardom well? Give me a break with the excuses already. It was one thing to not jump to conclusions on the whole weed fiasco, but when it's seeming already that he's breaking mentally in two games, these are some serious red flags.

And as for the "not surprising", I have always said Zeke would give McCoy like production at his ceiling. That means a good back, not worth a top 5, but he would be a good back. So, it's not as though I've disliked him as a prospect. But he's right there in line with Gregory as having one of the worst starts on this team in recent memory. If he's breaking mentally already, get him off the team.

No one is breaking mentally that's your hyperbole. He is adjusting and once he is tearing the league up you'll try to distance yourself from these old foolish posts

 

[mattjames2010]

No one is breaking mentally that's your hyperbole. He is adjusting and once he is tearing the league up you'll try to distance yourself from these old foolish posts

When your family is relocating just to help you, you're breaking. I will gladly eat crow if he tops my expectations.