No, trading zeke should not be on the table, imo.
- He's the player that personifies our identity, and whatever we do offensively, the base of our offense feeds off the success and presence he brings.
He sets and changes the dynamic of what we want to do to opposing defenses, and changes the dynamics of what opposing defenses want and have to do to have to compete against us.
And it's at an elite level
And there's a difference between elite level and what a serviceable B-tier player does.
It's not just the punishing ground and pound wear defenses have to account for but also the nerve wrecking take it to the house breakaway runs and big chunk yards.
And whether run or pass game, he still has proven he can affect the quick take- it -to house TDs (ala quick screen passes)
Some backs may wear down the later the game, season goes, while some backs thrive and finish even more as the game closes in the deciding moments.
Zeke is a finisher.
-If there are concerns, it's the off field incidents that don't seem to want to go away. With zeke it seems you’re dealing more with a big kid at heart albeit some immaturity issues.
. ..rather than dealing with a bad character issue person.
Imo, he’s more Beaver Cleaver mischievous, .he’s not a domestic abuse (both ohio police and NFL investigators didn’t see any clues or infractions) or substance abuse guy,
he’s not a vioatile locker room cancer, that affects against teammates, coaches, management, doesn’t throw his team, his QB, his coaches under the bus and into the media gossip groups.
As far as this contract holdout rumor,.. should it prove true, zeke has outperformed his current contract in leading the NFL twice in 2 of his 3 years, and his camp may not want
to risk the dynamics of hardball contract stalls 2 years down the road.
Maybe they have decided to pursue contractual commitment and peace of mind early than expected and also want to avoid any future franchise tagged seasons.
I do tend to believe that the leverage is on his side of the fence .
Trading an elite back or big name RB is not out of the question, and has been done so in the past. Hershel Walker, Erick Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, Ricky Williams, etc.
but it seems to have become very rare in these NFL times, and I don't think zeke 's situation is that dire and warranted to consider that.
We know what we have in zeke, .we know what kind of established player at an elite level we have. He's a proven commodity, and we dunno what we will get in the next drafted
RB should we trade him away.