Has Zeke lost some of his speed?

[G2]

Sure see below. Note: his top speed in 2016 was actually 21.8 in Week 16 that the poster missed.




See below.

So playing with minor injuries last season doesn't factor in?

 

[Mobinvans]

Hes definently lost speed since his rookie season....but hes still a beast

 

[pansophy]

Emmitt???

I said Emmitt wasn’t all that fast either, and then you quotes that saying “false...”.

Doesn’t matter...

 

[keysersoze]

I said Emmitt wasn’t all that fast either, and then you quotes that saying “false...”.

Doesn’t matter...

Oh!!! I must’ve quoted the wrong post. Sorry about that.

 

[Wezsh0T]

Zeke should only drop into that gear when we need him too. If he does it to much he will burn out and get injured. Save it for our division and close games.

There may be something to this idea. See what Dak Prescott said in 2018 about Zeke:

"Zeke has this innate ability to run just as fast as he needs to," Prescott said. "So he's not going to put it on 100 miles per hour if he doesn't have to. If 80's good enough, he's going to run at 80. But he can get to 100.

"He runs just fast enough."

If we argue empirical evidence, the NFL Nextgen stats are about the only data we have and they seem to indicate the Zeke's top end speed is slightly lower (still more than adequate) than it was when he was a rookie.

If we are argue other evidence, we would say that Zeke hasn't broken many 40+ yard runs (he has a lot of 15+ yard runs) and to my eye, he does look slower. How much of that is Zeke slowing down and how much of that is Zeke running "just fast enough". It's hard to say.

Is Zeke still effective? That is a resounding YES. Speed or not, he needs to be accounted for and I also believe he will break a few long ones here as Dak gains more respect for his passing. If he breaks a 40+ yarder, we will find out if he still has that 21.8mph speed. Until the, we can say that the empirical data says he's slower, he looks slower, and doesn't have as many big runs as he used to. Does any of that factor into Zeke not being a good running back? Not at this point in time.

 

[keysersoze]

There may be something to this idea. See what Dak Prescott said in 2018 about Zeke:

"Zeke has this innate ability to run just as fast as he needs to," Prescott said. "So he's not going to put it on 100 miles per hour if he doesn't have to. If 80's good enough, he's going to run at 80. But he can get to 100.

"He runs just fast enough."

If we argue empirical evidence, the NFL Nextgen stats are about the only data we have and they seem to indicate the Zeke's top end speed is slightly lower (still more than adequate) than it was when he was a rookie.

If we are argue other evidence, we would say that Zeke hasn't broken many 40+ yard runs (he has a lot of 15+ yard runs) and to my eye, he does look slower. How much of that is Zeke slowing down and how much of that is Zeke running "just fast enough". It's hard to say.

Is Zeke still effective? That is a resounding YES. Speed or not, he needs to be accounted for and I also believe he will break a few long ones here as Dak gains more respect for his passing. If he breaks a 40+ yarder, we will find out if he still has that 21.8mph speed. Until the, we can say that the empirical data says he's slower, he looks slower, and doesn't have as many big runs as he used to. Does any of that factor into Zeke not being a good running back? Not at this point in time.

This is true to a certain extent. Zeke and anyother player’s top end speed can only be precisely gauged by comparing their 40 times then bs now. This is because during an actual football game there are too many different circumstances that can speed up or slow down a person’s speed. Angles, body traffic, balance, fatigue, necessity and other things come into play at any given time during a football game.

 

[stilltheguru]

Zeke hasnt had am opportunity like Fournette had tonight. Zeke wouldve scored

 

[Toruk_Makto]

So playing with minor injuries last season doesn't factor in?

Does he look fast to you on the field?

Relative to his NFL peers.

 

[PoetTree]

Leonard Fournette, 24-years-old & per his own testimony in the best shape of his career this season, achieved 21.13mph tonight on a 69-yard sprint --in which he not only fell almost a full mile-per-hour slower than when he was the fastest ball-carrier of the league in 2017, but was flat-out caught from behind.

Has Leonard Fournette lost his speed, too?

 

[Aviano90]

Leonard Fournette, 24-years-old & per his own testimony in the best shape of his career this season, achieved 21.13mph tonight on a 69-yard sprint --in which he not only fell almost a full mile-per-hour slower than when he was the fastest ball-carrier of the league in 2017, but was flat-out caught from behind.

Has Leonard Fournette lost his speed, too?

Is this a trick question or should we bust out the calculator? He’s either running as fast or faster as he used to or he is slower.

 

[jaythecowboy]

Is this a trick question or should we bust out the calculator? He’s either running as fast or faster as he used to or he is slower.

 

[G2]

Does he look fast to you on the field?

Relative to his NFL peers.

He starts off slow every season. Specifically the 1st 2 seasons. He didn't take a snap in the pre season. So it's not realistic to assume you know he's lost a step.

 

[blueblood70]

this is getting ridiculous, you want to know if hes slower, lets have a post season RB only charity event and say invite 1top 10 rushers of 2019 to it.. they can run the 40 , and other track stuff and lets set up a mini combine course,,go through it all again..

then we will know..

thats not happening and it doesnt matter Zeke is as effective and productive as always..at the end of 2019 we can discus his PRODUCTION, Ef the speed talk..EE got paid to do what he does , run hard and be a true threat as runner that makes the defense stay honest for PA and Rpos etc as well as his wheels catching balls out of the backfield.. and hes always available not injury prone..that was ES best quality and Zeke chares that, he can carry it 15-30 times, whatever you need for a given game, he will get it done..

he is still very much that guy..it all tends to work itself out by years end.. keeping play by play and early season stats nit picking every is just ridiculous..

 

[Aviano90]

We know he hasn't been as fast as his rookie year. The question should be can be as fast as he was in his rookie year? He still has time to prove it on the field so time is going to tell.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

He starts off slow every season. Specifically the 1st 2 seasons. He didn't take a snap in the pre season. So it's not realistic to assume you know he's lost a step.

I've been saying he's lost a step since 2017. The data speaks for itself.

 

[G2]

I've been saying he's lost a step since 2017. The data speaks for itself.

There are other things to factor in that you simply are not. So it's a biased approach.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

There are other things to factor in that you simply are not. So it's a biased approach.

Happy to hear competing data?

Fact is it's been over 500 carries since Zeke went for more than 41 yards. His top speed reached has declined every single year he has been in the league.

What is the evidence he has not lost a step?

 

[G2]

Happy to hear competing data?

Fact is it's been over 500 carries since Zeke went for more than 41 yards. His top speed reached has declined every single year he has been in the league.

What is the evidence he has not lost a step?

I already brought it up but you ignored it. Last season he was banged up. Perfectly normal for any RB who carries the ball that much to slow down. "Top speed reached" is awful flimsy if you choose to leave out factual circumstances.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

I already brought it up but you ignored it. Last season he was banged up. Perfectly normal for any RB who carries the ball that much to slow down. "Top speed reached" is awful flimsy if you choose to leave out factual circumstances.

What about his 2nd year?

Does he look fast to you?

 

[PoetTree]

Is this a trick question or should we bust out the calculator? He’s either running as fast or faster as he used to or he is slower.

My point in listing the disparity of those speeds is to demonstrate that a lower-recorded miles-per-hour on a football field is not necessarily indicative that a player has become athletically slower. Seems a lot of y'all don't understand what happens to NFL athletes once they're drafted out of college, where no matter how good they were, no matter matter how in-shape, they could never achieve the same level of athleticism as they do once becoming professional athletes.

Most college players haven't even finished physically maturing until 2-3 years after they're drafted (humans are fully grown around 25-years-old), and in college had, you know, "college" to focus on --classes, tests, papers, projects. It's not until they get to the NFL that working-out becomes their full-time job and they reshape their bodies into professional athletes.

Between natural physical maturation & the world-class strength and conditioning programs these guys get into as NFL Players, virtually every one of them becomes bigger, faster, stronger, and better --athletically-- across the board. Starters tend to improve --physically-- for the first 2-3 years of their careers; and then their knowledge of the game coincides with their enhanced physical ability & that's a big reason why promising young players are said to have "bright futures", because in a few years they should be even better than when they're drafted, superior athletes who have learned the nuances of the game & can put it all together.

Which is why I'm scoffing at the notion here that Zeke, or Fournette, have "lost speed" since their rookie years. No, they haven't, even if the circumstances that allowed them to hit the right runway to record those top-speeds hasn't been present since. That, too, is the nature of football.

Anybody remember how DYNAMIC Julius Jones looked in his rookie season, when defenses had no film on him? Only to then come out and be unable to replicate his initial success. Why? Was it because he was suddenly less of an athlete? Lost speed, strength, or agility?

No.

He just had a limited skill-set that got figured out by year-2 and it became harder to gain yards against well-prepared defenses. Anyone could see how much fitter Julius was in his second season. No matter, he never broke long, fast runs like he had in his rookie year ever* again.

*(that's not true, he did have two more dominant runs in his career; Saints, Panthers)

It wasn't because he was slower, as many in this thread keep trying to theorize is the case with Zeke. Rather, there were a number of factors inherent to the game of professional football that conspired to make those lanes, those runways, and that success less attainable, despite Julius being a superior athlete to his rookie self in season-2.

Ezekiel Elliott turned 24-years-old less than two-months ago. This is a young man, who may not yet even be fully matured as an athlete, which every report available to the public attests is in the best shape of his life. He's playing 2019 at a lighter weight than he came in as a rookie, and much more finely-tuned.

He's been in an NFL strength-&-conditioning program for three-straight-seasons.

I guarantee you that if 2019 lined up alongside 2016 Ezekiel Elliott, he'd edge him in a race.

--even if Next Gen Stats hasn't recorded him achieving a maximum velocity on the football field as fast as his rookie-self once managed. That result is circumstantial in nature, not athletic.


Physically, this is the best Zeke we've ever seen. If the opportunity arises for Zeke to hit an alleyway and totally turn on the jets, I suspect you'll see his speed recorded above 21mph again, depending on the circumstances, & that it will take a very fast man to run him down from behind.