Twitter: He's having a historically great career

[RonnieT24]

Personally I am more concerned about a 43.4 yards per game average DECREASE (2016-2020) in Dallas' #1, high priced running back than I am that of the Dallas back-up running back with less than 200 career carries over 2 seasons.

As for Pollard, here are his top amount of carries in 2019 and 2020:

2019

14 carries for 60 yards
12 carries for 131 yards
13 carries for 103 yards
13 carries for 24 yards


2020

12 carries for 69 yards
11 carries for 39 yards
10 carries for 31 yards


So only 7 times in 2 seasons has Pollard been given more than 10 carries in a game and when he has he has amassed the following stats: 85 carries for 457 yards with a 5.38 ypc average. In games he has been given less than 10 carries he has amassed the following stats: 102 carries 433 yards with a 4.25 ypc average. The point to this is Pollard has actually stepped up more often than not when he has been given 10+ carries in a game but as long as Zeke is here he will rarely get that chance, in spite of showing he deserves that chance.

I shall respectfully disagree here. When you're the backup you need to come in and ball out in order to warrant more opportunities. Pollard's long list of games where he is held to under 3 ypc do more to keep him on the sideline than anything Zeke has done. The fact of the matter is he has more games of doing nothing with the carries he has gotten than he has "stepping up." Pollard's splash plays are nice but the fact remains that he needs to get more consistent and getting those grind it out yards and moving the chains before he is to be trusted with more totes. I think I read somewhere that he was stopped for 0 or negative yards on over 30% of his carries in 2020. That kind of thing will cripple an offense. He's gotta get better at fighting off that guy in the backfield and falling forward before I will want to see him replace Zeke. And that's not to say he can't.. but a lot of that is on style and mentality. He may have it.. but he has not yet shown it.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

So you still think Zeke is in the same class? What a homer. You do know Emmitt played for the Cowboys right?

Nice troll job.....

 

[USArmyVet]

I shall respectfully disagree here. When you're the backup you need to come in and ball out in order to warrant more opportunities. Pollard's long list of games where he is held to under 3 ypc do more to keep him on the sideline than anything Zeke has done. The fact of the matter is he has more games of doing nothing with the carries he has gotten than he has "stepping up." Pollard's splash plays are nice but the fact remains that he needs to get more consistent and getting those grind it out yards and moving the chains before he is to be trusted with more totes. I think I read somewhere that he was stopped for 0 or negative yards on over 30% of his carries in 2020. That kind of thing will cripple an offense. He's gotta get better at fighting off that guy in the backfield and falling forward before I will want to see him replace Zeke. And that's not to say he can't.. but a lot of that is on style and mentality. He may have it.. but he has not yet shown it.

So a back-up that does not get 1st team reps in practice and comes in the game cold should ball out? Well, based on that logic and back-up should ball out. Sorry but that makes no sense to me but we all have our own opinions.

 

[RonnieT24]

Like I said, ultimately this is more about concern for Zeke regressing than it is Pollard.

This is a fair take. Even if I disagree with it. If Zeke goes for 1400 yards and 12 TDs this year and gets back up around 4.5 ypc I will happily declare 2020 a Covid induced anomaly wouldn't you? NFL careers are rarely a straight line. I'm willing to see how he looks this year before shoveling dirt on him.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Zeke had a 5.1 ypc average his rookie season.....the next 4 years after Zeke has a 4.325 ypc average.

4.3 yards a carry is still pretty good.

 

[RonnieT24]

So a back-up that does not get 1st team reps in practice and comes in the game cold should ball out? Well, based on that logic and back-up should ball out. Sorry but that makes no sense to me but we all have our own opinions.

The first team reps thing is about QBs. RBs and receivers rotate through all practice long. Because they are running all practice long and need frequent blows. And the backup showing out rule really only applies to running backs. Particularly when the starter is a grinder and the backup is a jitterbug. The contrast in styles is supposed to be a weapon against the defense. We have all see those plays when defenders square up like they are about to have a collision with Zeke only to be caught flat footed because it was Pollard coming at them and he runs right by them. Those plays don't happen if they both run the same style. Again.. it's a weapon that OCs use to create big plays. And it has been shown to work a hundred times around the league.. What has also been shown a hundred times around the league is that when that jitterbug backup has been moved into the starting lineup he has typically fallen on his face. Not saying Pollard would.. but the track record of backs like him taking over for backs like Zeke is not good. That's just facts.

 

[RonnieT24]

4.3 yards a carry is still pretty good.

Yeah.. it's better than Emmitt and Payton .. but he sucks.. Go figure..

 

[USArmyVet]

I shall respectfully disagree here. When you're the backup you need to come in and ball out in order to warrant more opportunities. Pollard's long list of games where he is held to under 3 ypc do more to keep him on the sideline than anything Zeke has done. The fact of the matter is he has more games of doing nothing with the carries he has gotten than he has "stepping up." Pollard's splash plays are nice but the fact remains that he needs to get more consistent and getting those grind it out yards and moving the chains before he is to be trusted with more totes. I think I read somewhere that he was stopped for 0 or negative yards on over 30% of his carries in 2020. That kind of thing will cripple an offense. He's gotta get better at fighting off that guy in the backfield and falling forward before I will want to see him replace Zeke. And that's not to say he can't.. but a lot of that is on style and mentality. He may have it.. but he has not yet shown it.

In 2020, Zeke had 8 of 15 games where he rushed for less than 54 yards....so do you say the same of him?

 

[RonnieT24]

In 2020, Zeke had 8 of 15 games where he rushed for less than 54 yards....so do you say the same of him?

I'm pretty sure I have stated on more than one occasion that Zeke had a crappy year in 2020. However even in his worst year he was not held below 4 ypc in 8 of 16 games like Pollard was and he was not held below 3 ypc in 3 games like Pollard was. Event fighting through Covid and multiple leg injuries he was able to be more consistently productive ..
No he did not deliver as many splash plays but as long as he doesn't get carries against worn out defenses and those totes continue to go to Pollard I don't really expect him to. But I do think the renewed commitment to getting back his speed and quickness will allow him to create more. But as I spoke of earlier, a lot of that is mentality. Zeke's mentality the last couple of years has been to look for contact early in games. There have been big plays out there for the taking in the past but he was looking to set a tone. I'm hoping he goes back to just trying to hit more home runs and screw setting the tone. Because Kellen Moore doesn't seem keen to reward him for that setup work with late game carries.. If we're leading those carries go to Pollard and if we're behind we're passing.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Zeke has a career total of 4 rushes of 40+ yards and 3 of them were in his rookie season back in 2016 (the other being in 2018); Zeke has a career total of 37 rushes of 20+ yard runs (30 of them were 2016-2018 but only 7 total in 2019 & 2020 combined)

Tony Pollard has a career total of 3 rushes of 40+ yards (2 in 2020 and 1 in 2019); Pollard has a career total of 8 rushes of 20+ yards (4 in 2020 and 4 in 2019)


The stats clearly show that Zeke is no longer the homerun threat running back he once was and that Pollard has that ability when given his limited chances.

Boom. That is going to leave a mark.

 

[charron]

Zeke lacks the explosive big 20+ yard plays but he makes up for it in toughness, durability being a workhorse carrying the rock more than most.

 

[USArmyVet]

This is a fair take. Even if I disagree with it. If Zeke goes for 1400 yards and 12 TDs this year and gets back up around 4.5 ypc I will happily declare 2020 a Covid induced anomaly wouldn't you? NFL careers are rarely a straight line. I'm willing to see how he looks this year before shoveling dirt on him.

Agreed, a 1,300+ yard season in a 17-game season would average out to around 76.5 yards rushing per game so that should be the starting point in terms of what is declared a turn around season for Zeke, barring injuries. That said, what is the 'concern' point in terms of Zeke's 2021 season? Would a 1,000 yard season be considered a bust year seeing as how that would be on par with what Zeke did last season?

 

[CowboyStar88]

I am an elitist, no argument there.

My record in accuracy backs that up. Quite frankly, I get really tired of listening to all the football and QB challenged ninnies on here getting it all wrong. Football isnt rocket science. I guess it is for some.

I will not argue about whether CB is a premium position. Its beneath me quite frankly. You can do your own homework. You can even google "most important positions in football" and you can find the answer. Hell just take a look at two corners going in the top 10 this year right in front of the Cowboys.

As far as likes, you make me laugh. I dont care about likes. Why would you EVER think a jerk like me would care about likes?

See what I mean, your theories dont match up with logic. If I wanted likes, all I would have to do is say homer stuff more like what you do and I would get all the likes I wanted.

I needed a good laugh this am.

 

[RonnieT24]

Agreed, a 1,300+ yard season in a 17-game season would average out to around 76.5 yards rushing per game so that should be the starting point in terms of what is declared a turn around season for Zeke, barring injuries. That said, what is the 'concern' point in terms of Zeke's 2021 season? Would a 1,000 yard season be considered a bust year seeing as how that would be on par with what Zeke did last season?

If Zeke runs for around 1000 yards but is still mired in the 4.0 ypc or below area then it will look like it's time to move on .. but if he's up around 4.5 or higher and the only reason he doesn't get more yards is that he doesn't get as many carries as we are accustomed to seeing, then I won't really care. And maybe the reason he doesn't get more carries is that the coaching staff continues to want it to be a "committee" and Pollard gets more run. As long as it's successful I won't really care. But if we're 9-8 and stumble around all year because Moore refuses to run the damn ball I'm going to be p----d at everybody.

 

[CowboyRoy]

This is a fair take. Even if I disagree with it. If Zeke goes for 1400 yards and 12 TDs this year and gets back up around 4.5 ypc I will happily declare 2020 a Covid induced anomaly wouldn't you? NFL careers are rarely a straight line. I'm willing to see how he looks this year before shoveling dirt on him.

That would be great, but Im quite certain that Pollard can average 4.5 and score TD's too. Why this infatuation to give 90% of EVERYTHING to Zeke? Where does that logic come from? Pollard presents a big play element that Zeke doesnt offer. An outside running threat.

But even if Zeke does run for 1400 yards rushing and 12 TD's, which should be bare minimums in THIS offense with 300 carries, its not worth 15 million.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I needed a good laugh this am.

Glad I could provide that to you!!!

 

[RonnieT24]

That would be great, but Im quite certain that Pollard can average 4.5 and score TD's too. Why this infatuation to give 90% of EVERYTHING to Zeke? Where does that logic come from? Pollard presents a big play element that Zeke doesnt offer. An outside running threat.

But even if Zeke does run for 1400 yards rushing and 12 TD's, which should be bare minimums in THIS offense with 300 carries, its not worth 15 million.

There goes that salary envy again. And YOU may be quite certain that Pollard can average and score TD's too.. but your vote doesn't count. The people who DO get a vote don't agree with you. There is no infatuation to give Zeke 90% of everything. I don't particularly care what the split is as long as my team is winning. 90/10 .. 50/50 .. don't care. I want to win. I think Zeke is a better football player thus I want him to get more of the work. You disagree.. again fine.. When you get your team you can start Pollard. But at this point Pollard is just another in a long line of change of pace backs whose value gets overinflated because he goes in fresh against a defense that they other guy has softened up for him. Remember the time Pollard started against the 49ers and average 1.1 ypc through 3.8 quarters and then got 42 on his last carry which skewed his stats? Would anybody here have been lobbying for Zeke to keep getting the ball if he had 17 yards on his first 11 carries? No.. you would be lobbying for whomever the backup he came in and was averaging 5 ypc on 3 carries to get more totes. And you'd still be wrong.

 

[Zekeats]

But, But, But...I seen it on here, he is in decline....oh, wait...that is the hater loser mentality...never mind....

No it’s a fact he’s been lazy and hasn’t had his burst since his rookie season. He has looked better so far so hopefully he rededicated himself this year.

 

[CowboyRoy]

There goes that salary envy again. And YOU may be quite certain that Pollard can average and score TD's too.. but your vote doesn't count. The people who DO get a vote don't agree with you. There is no infatuation to give Zeke 90% of everything. I don't particularly care what the split is as long as my team is winning. 90/10 .. 50/50 .. don't care. I want to win. I think Zeke is a better football player thus I want him to get more of the work. You disagree.. again fine.. When you get your team you can start Pollard. But at this point Pollard is just another in a long line of change of pace backs whose value gets overinflated because he goes in fresh against a defense that they other guy has softened up for him. Remember the time Pollard started against the 49ers and average 1.1 ypc through 3.8 quarters and then got 42 on his last carry which skewed his stats? Would anybody here have been lobbying for Zeke to keep getting the ball if he had 17 yards on his first 11 carries? No.. you would be lobbying for whomever the backup he came in and was averaging 5 ypc on 3 carries to get more totes. And you'd still be wrong.

I hate to break it to you but Pollards % of the carries have been going up since he got here. last year I think was a 70/30 split and rising. I would be happy with a 60/40 split in carries and most of the passes going Pollards way.

So although neither of our votes count, it appears they think more like CowboyRoy.

 

[phildadon86]

You just did compare them. And then you did it again just now. Zeke's first few years were great. The last few, not so much. Overall, Zeke was a poor choice over Ramsey. That much has been proven.

Ramsey fought his way out of Jacksonville for not winning. Had we drafted Ramsey we wouldnt have been contenders and he probably would have left us as well.