Ezekiel Elliott: Evaluators Question If Cowboys RB More Of A 2nd-Tier Guy

[CowboyRoy]

I know. People claim Zeke got paid and declined. Even they can’t see what happened. The decline with Zeke occurred after his rookie year. He was special in 2016 and then we was a battering ram begging in 2017. Two versions of Zeke. 2016 Zeke and 2017-2021 Zeke.

Line was soo good in 2016 it made him look better than he was. Which it would have done for any back.

 

[StuckMojo]

Henry doubled his production. The Titans’ OL had injuries too. Not much difference between the Titan OL and the Cowboy OL last year. Elliott had Dak for 1/3 of the year and Dak is so much better than Tannehill, right? I don’t see much difference between Tannehill and Dalton other than Tannehill has more running ability. Cowboys had much better WRs than the Titans last year.

What explains the huge difference between Henry and Elliott?

RBs don’t get faster as they age. No one does. Three position though rely on speed much more than anything - CBs, WRs, and RBs.

My guess is that Elliott likes his ‘low key fades’ more than football.

Two totally different offenses. And I don’t think Henry was running behind 3rd team Olinemen. But I will not give Zeke a pass. He needs to reduce the fumbles and be focused.

 

[kskboys]

and then what happened in the SB? no ring no matter. Just pretty numbers like so many here. Drew Brees had 5000 yd seasons year after year. 1 ring in a year when he did not reach that level. And nothing really close after that.
Matt Ryan really has racked up the numbers. But when it counted in the SB what happened?
You and other whine and cry about how RBs are all but worthless. Well I see all these passing numbers you drool about and not many rings there. Peyton Manning s only two rings came when he had a top D. Heck the last one he got frankly I think he should give back as bad as he played.
Mahoones had a great year; then got wiped in the SB because he came up against a top D with a patchwork O line.
You can drool about Dak's numbers all you want. Marino NEVER got a ring despite being the top passer of his era.

Dude. Stop. You're making yourself look utterly ridiculous by out and out lying.

I don't drool over Dak's numbers.

I think RB's are grossly undervalued in the NFL, especially by fans.

Defense wins championships.

Why in the world did you suddenly decide to take this pathetic course?

 

[JoeKing]

Henry doubled Elliott’s yardage and Henry had basically the same talent at OL, same talent at QB, and much less talent at WR with the Titans. How do you excuse Elliott now? Defense and coaching? Yeah, that’s the ticket why ‘Low Key Fade’ Elliott stunk.

Henry is a much better RB at this point in his career. That has nothing to do with the Cowboys OL this season being healthier and thus Zeke doing better this coming season.

 

[kskboys]

Henry doubled Elliott’s yardage and Henry had basically the same talent at OL, same talent at QB, and much less talent at WR with the Titans. How do you excuse Elliott now? Defense and coaching? Yeah, that’s the ticket why ‘Low Key Fade’ Elliott stunk.

I'm thinking you're underrating just how bad our OLine was last year.

 

[Brax]

That wasn't the standard set by acr731.
And, even if they did, running backs have gotten their teams to the big game also - unless you're willing to argue that Emmitt Smith, Jerome Bettis, Shaun Alexander, Marcus Allen, Jamal Lewis (see my post above this one for other examples) played little or no role whatsoever in getting their teams to the Super Bowl.
It's a team game. Even so, we hold quarterbacks to a higher standard for Super Bowl appearances and victories than any other singular position.
Is it fair? No.
Is it what it is? Yes.

Don’t disagree but QB’s HC, have W-L records attached to their names, QB make a big difference in a teams success good ones find ways to get it done. To this point Dallas has not seen that type of QB in 20 odd years. As for RB’s we all know who carried the team since 2016 and wasn’t the QB. Better play consistently from the QB is what is needed.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

I'm thinking you're underrating just how bad our OLine was last year.

The team and whatever OL was out there put up the 7th most yards in team history, I believe.

The OL cupboard was not bare. Steele and Knight played decent. Same with Looney and Biadasz. Martin was excellent and Williams was good. McGovern was not chopped liver. There were no Chaz Greens out there.

 

[Brax]

Dak doesnt make the defense better, we can agree on that.

Neither did Marino. Its why he never won a championship. But in case you were wondering when Dak lead the #1 offense in NFL history through the first 4 games last year, that included Marino's Dolphin offense.

Please stop with the first 4 games it’s just Dak driveling on your part and last I looked Daks numbers last year didn’t mean squat. This Dak infatuation is just crazy to the point of manufacturing made up records. Dak 5 years 1 playoff win. Daks best attribute so far is PR self promotion, if only he could produce on the field to match his self promotion the team might do better.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Please stop with the first 4 games it’s just Dak driveling on your part and last I looked Daks numbers last year didn’t mean squat. This Dak infatuation is just crazy to the point of manufacturing made up records. Dak 5 years 1 playoff win. Daks best attribute so far is PR self promotion, if only he could produce on the field to match his self promotion the team might do better.

Much to your discredit the records are actually true!!!

I started a nice thread outlining how great Dak's first 5 years as a QB have been. Its a great read. You probably wont like it because it makes you look silly. If you want you can jump over there and start talking about the lack of team success. Im sure some of your troll buddies will show up and be deflecting the conversation to that as well.

 

[MyFairLady]

No way was Zeke a second tier running back last year. Third or fourth tier at best.

 

[Xeven]

Pollard = X

 

[Brax]

Much to your discredit the records are actually true!!!

I started a nice thread outlining how great Dak's first 5 years as a QB have been. Its a great read. You probably wont like it because it makes you look silly. If you want you can jump over there and start talking about the lack of team success. Im sure some of your troll buddies will show up and be deflecting the conversation to that as well.

A Dak is great troll thread how novel. I bet there are lots of excuses for the failures of everyone else. I bet you even talk about his history making season last year that never happened. Do you point out how in 5 seasons he has Guided his team to nothing.

 

[basel90]

Zeke is a typical bum from his college years . Lots of talent got to his head and the regression and attitude set in more each year once the money started flowing . A typical Jerry guy who sold T shirts and got media attention ( mostly negative BTW)
He will be very mediocre until he is traded or cut . But Jerry won’t ever admit it . Heck ,I heard Jerry on the radio last season call him the most talented player on the roster in the middle of that disastrous season . Billionaires are stubborn . They are surrounded by yes men once they made that money .

 

[Thomas82]

Zeke is getting paid to be elite.
Nothing else is acceptable.
Nothing short of leagues leading rusher is acceptable.

Well then he needs 20+ carries a game. But I do agree that he needs to be better.

 

[Thomas82]

No excuses? There are always reasons something doesn't happen. If you want to call them "excuses" is up to you. The O line being down is a legitimate reason Zeke didn't break the 1000 yard barrier last season.

Along with a hamstring and calf injuries. Him having Covid definitely didn't help either.

 

[ChuckA1]

Any evaluator that thinks Zek is a second-tier RB after one "down" season with no QB1 and no 1st team OL needs to find a new line of business. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Scotman]

He looked second tier to me last year. BUT, if losing virtually your whole line impacts anyone, RB is high on that list. So, Zeke gets a near-pass from me. Not a complete pass, because he didn't look like he was helping out the line with his skill set either.

I think he's on the downside of his career....probably. But I sure as heck hope I'm wrong. I loved what he could do on the field when he came into the league.

 

[Jay]

Bottom line is that Zeke is just like many Dallas Cowboys players: as soon as they get paid a large new contract their on the field production drops (see Zeke, DLaw, J. Smith, T. Smith, etc.).

Including Tyron in that group is a total joke. Please.

 

[Big_D]

His longest run in 5 years is a 60 yarder and that was his rookie year and he hasn't come close since. Zero home run ability from the highest paid back in football. That's horrendous. People defend it like that's unimportant. lol They aren't winning with this clown at RB. That's not changing. You need a back who can break a D and score from anywhere. But they'll give him 300 plus carries. Stupid is as stupid does. A team that never seems to learn a lesson and people still carry on about how great he is. Comic gold here.

 

[Loso86]

With only 7 runs of 20 plus yards in 2 seasons, YES.

No excuse "he didn't have Dak".

No excuse "Dallas can't make the playoffs unless Zeke rushes for 1,000 plus".

No excuse "he didn't have a good offensive line".

"Elliott rushed for a career-low 979 yards and six touchdowns (tied for his career low) in 2020, posting a long run of just 31 yards.

"Backup Tony Pollard was in many respects the more effective running back last season, especially when it came to big bursts out of the backfield.

He had four carries of 20-plus yards in 2020 last season in 101 carries versus three for Elliott in 244 carries."

https://syndication-bleacherreport-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10006862-ezekiel-elliott-rumors-evaluators-question-if-cowboys-rb-more-of-a-2nd-tier-guy.amp.html?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM=#amp_tf=From %1$s&aoh=16253178433147&csi=0&referrer=https://www.google.com

I call BS, hard to do much when they know all we had was Zeke plus covid. I guess only the likeable guys get real life excuses