“He had a lot of raw, natural talent,” Frerotte said. “And being a track star, his speed was always way better than anyone else on the football field. He was so smart. He knew how to play the game from multiple positions. He could see things happening way before he’d even get the ball at times.
“He was a joy to work with. I could tell him to go play tight end or receiver or go show that lineman how to block. … He just knew so much about the game because he began playing it so young. That helped him succeed.”
“I don’t know if he reminds me exactly of any of those guys,” said Frerotte in a telephone interview. “I think he can do a lot of things those guys do. But I think his skill set is a little different. You can use him as a receiver. You can use him out of the backfield a little more. He also can pound the football if you want, and I think his speed is exceptional for a running back.
“Adrian was incredible. Adrian was one of the best football players I’ve ever played with. But you weren’t going to line him up outside and have him understand where to play in the slot and how to run routes. Zeke knows how to do all of that stuff. We worked hard on that in high school and we tried to expand his scope instead of just lining up behind the quarterback all the time.”
“He can lower his shoulder and go get it,” Frerotte said. “He’s not afraid to do that. But obviously he’s going to try to bust it outside at times to use his speed. He can hit a hole pretty quick. He’s not Barry Sanders in the hole, but he can definitely make the cuts and go north and south.”
“At Ohio State, they didn’t really use him like I thought they would because they have so many athletes,” Frerotte said. “They didn’t have to. They have a lot of receivers and a lot of people to play all of those positions, so they kept him at running back.”
“He was really good with the other kids,” Frerotte said. “He loved to practice. He was just a lot of fun. We used to do a lot of things with him. I ran a lot of formations, put him out there. We kept him off defense at times because we wanted more kids to play. We’d just let him score the points so a lot of kids could get time in on defense. He was really good about that. But in some tight games he’d go in and play some safety or corner.”
Frerotte, by the way, was the starting quarterback on the 2005 Miami Dolphins that finished 9-7. His head coach was Nick Saban, his offensive coordinator was Scott Linehan and his quarterback coach was Jason Garrett.
“A lot of my old coaches are down there in Dallas,” Frerotte said. “So Zeke is in good hands. He loves the game and I think he’s very excited to be taking this next step in his career.”
