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.
