Finding Dickerson

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Galian Beast

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It is no small task to break the Rookie rushing record. That being said, I think it is entirely too soon to discount him at this point.

I've seen some posts recently that really to me reflect a grand misunderstanding of who and what Ezekiel Elliott is.

I noticed this when people said they had a problem with him making the feeding gesture during the game. It told me that they never watched any of his game tape at Ohio State, where he did it throughout his career there. I also saw someone mention that he shouldn't have hurdled a defender and that he could have gotten more yards if he hadn't. That simply wasn't the case. He was going to be tackled short of the first down had he not hurdled, but it should also be mentioned that if you didn't know Zeke hurdles defenders, you didn't watch his tape.

It also strikes me that they don't know what kind of running back he is, which is why they didn't want to draft him in the first place. I saw someone mention that he doesn't break a ton of tackles. This is true and it is also misleading. Zeke was one of the highest ranked running backs in college football in yards after contact. Will he break a ton of open field tackles? Probably not, but that isn't his game.

Let me break down for you one of Zeke's best games in college football. His national championship game against Oregon, where he ran for 246 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.

Zeke is a power back with a nice compliment of speed, agility, maneuverability, and vision. He is a 225 pound running back at 6'. That is 8 pounds more than Adrian Peterson at 6'1. That is 15 pounds more than Darren McFadden, and almost 20 pounds more than LeSean McCoy.

But back to Oregon... 246 yards rushing... He must have broken an extremely long run to get that, right? Wrong... His longest run of the night was 33 yards. Ezekiel Elliott's talent lies in his ability to continuously get first downs with a combination of his talents. He is a first down machine and he is a touchdown machine. This is what made him the 4th overall pick. This is what separates him from other running backs who have power but can only do short yardage, or only have speed and can't push the pile. He is an all-around running back. Can he hit home runs? Absolutely, and when we're able to spread out defenses again because of the passing game, you'll see him hit home runs, but that isn't his bread and butter. That isn't how he gets his yards. And while that might not excite you, that is how Ohio State won games, and that is how we won games in 2014.

Watch his game tape, you know who you are if you didn't. The dude is a beast.
 

Aven8

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I can see a couple of 200 yard games this season, so who knows? The kid is a stud. I see the 1st 3 games as his PS and now he's about to get started. With Leary back in, and if Tyron can get healthy look out folks!!!
 

Galian Beast

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Ezekiel Elliott leads the league with 19 rushing first downs. He is 8th in the league in percentage of runs that result in first downs. Of those above him, only LeSean McCoy has over 40 carries.

Elliott is an absolute beast and had a terrible first game. He will only continue to get better here. His first down percentage is already better than Murray's in 2014, despite the poor first game. Even with that horrible first game, he is on pace for 101 first downs, that beats the 2014 leader DeMarco Murray who had 85 first downs (second place Le'Veon Bell had 73 and LeSean McCoy had 67). McFadden only had 52 first downs (and yes I know he didn't start the whole year).
 

Stash

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It is no small task to break the Rookie rushing record. That being said, I think it is entirely too soon to discount him at this point.

I've seen some posts recently that really to me reflect a grand misunderstanding of who and what Ezekiel Elliott is.

I noticed this when people said they had a problem with him making the feeding gesture during the game. It told me that they never watched any of his game tape at Ohio State, where he did it throughout his career there. I also saw someone mention that he shouldn't have hurdled a defender and that he could have gotten more yards if he hadn't. That simply wasn't the case. He was going to be tackled short of the first down had he not hurdled, but it should also be mentioned that if you didn't know Zeke hurdles defenders, you didn't watch his tape.

It also strikes me that they don't know what kind of running back he is, which is why they didn't want to draft him in the first place. I saw someone mention that he doesn't break a ton of tackles. This is true and it is also misleading. Zeke was one of the highest ranked running backs in college football in yards after contact. Will he break a ton of open field tackles? Probably not, but that isn't his game.

Let me break down for you one of Zeke's best games in college football. His national championship game against Oregon, where he ran for 246 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.

Zeke is a power back with a nice compliment of speed, agility, maneuverability, and vision. He is a 225 pound running back at 6'. That is 8 pounds more than Adrian Peterson at 6'1. That is 15 pounds more than Darren McFadden, and almost 20 pounds more than LeSean McCoy.

But back to Oregon... 246 yards rushing... He must have broken an extremely long run to get that, right? Wrong... His longest run of the night was 33 yards. Ezekiel Elliott's talent lies in his ability to continuously get first downs with a combination of his talents. He is a first down machine and he is a touchdown machine. This is what made him the 4th overall pick. This is what separates him from other running backs who have power but can only do short yardage, or only have speed and can't push the pile. He is an all-around running back. Can he hit home runs? Absolutely, and when we're able to spread out defenses again because of the passing game, you'll see him hit home runs, but that isn't his bread and butter. That isn't how he gets his yards. And while that might not excite you, that is how Ohio State won games, and that is how we won games in 2014.

Watch his game tape, you know who you are if you didn't. The dude is a beast.

Any idea how his pace after three games compares to Dickerson or what he would have to average from this point?
 

Galian Beast

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Nice! Thanks.

And this after a 'slow start'.

:thumbup:

I'll be the first person to mention that Dickerson's 4th and 5th games were both monsters. He ran for nearly 200 yards back to back. Elliott is likely to fall behind in the next two games, but Dickerson had some really bad games where it will give Elliott a chance to recover. 118 per game isn't too terribly tall an order if he gets the rock enough and breaks some nice gains.
 

Super_Kazuya

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I think when this thread was posted right before the season most were appalled at the thought he could get the carries to break the record...
 

Clove

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My man Galian, you are preaching sir. I'm a believer in Elliott, guy has a knack for finding open field. The way he would immediately cut right to the outside was a thing of beauty.
 

boysfanindc

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I would love to see it happen, but I don't see it.

Over the last 2 weeks we have probably played the 2 worst D's will face, other then we will have the Skins again.
 

Trouty

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I would love to see it happen, but I don't see it.

Over the last 2 weeks we have probably played the 2 worst D's will face, other then we will have the Skins again.

Well, let's hope our Oline shores itself up and starts run blocking at the elite level the way we know they can. There isn't a team in the league that can stop our Oline from imposing their will at the POA and second level when they're clicking on all cylinders.

It's confounding that they've taken this long to get it going, so here's to Zeke and his attempt at the record (admittedly, as long a shot as it is). These updates are still fun :)

(This coming from a guy who did not want a RB at #4)
 
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boysfanindc

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Well, let's hope our Oline shores itself up and starts run blocking at the elite level the way we know they can. There isn't a team in the league that can stop our Oline from imposing their will at the POA and second level when they're clicking on all cylinders.

It's confounding that they've taken this long to get it going, so here's to Zeke and his attempt at the record (admittedly, as long a shot as it is). These updates are still fun :)

(This coming from a guy who did not want a RB at #4)

EE will have to get his YPC up, Dickerson was a beast, I think he had a 4.6 YPC average that year and as Dickerson says you only get 1 shot at that record.

The amazing thing about Dickerson is he had that rushing record and also over 50 catches.

Dickerson was something to watch.

Would like to see Cowboy own that record, but I don't see it, would love to eat my words though.
 

Trouty

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EE will have to get his YPC up, Dickerson was a beast, I think he had a 4.6 YPC average that year and as Dickerson says you only get 1 shot at that record.

The amazing thing about Dickerson is he had that rushing record and also over 50 catches.

Dickerson was something to watch.

Would like to see Cowboy own that record, but I don't see it, would love to eat my words though.

I think as our Oline gets its act together, along with more in-game experience for EE, that YPC will climb as its done through three games.

One thing that will need to happen for Zeke to have a chance, will be for him to get a ton of carries.

Dickerson may have been a dual threat, but so is Zeke (touted as such, at least). We haven't seen that, yet, either, from him. Garret is not using Zeke as a dynamic back yet, but by all accounts he very much is that Faulk/Dickerson threat (i.e. flat/screen). We shall see, my fingers are crossed :)
 
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