Metric-based breakdown of Zeke’s career

[darthseinfeld]

Interesting read. You also have to be blind or a big Zeke fan to not see he's clearly not the same back he was as a rookie. Wear and tear have taken their toll, just like it has to many other RBs. This is why Jerry made the mistake he made giving Zeke that big contract. It would have been tough, but the better call was to call Zeke's bluff and make him sit out.

The mouth breathers won’t understand the information. They’ll revert to oversimplified tenants like “you gotta let him find his rhythm.” Zeke has devolved into a plodding power back that offers little outside of pass protection and short yardage utility.

They found a nice balance early in the season with Elliott/Pollard. Elliott didnt look anything like 2016, but he still looked relevant. Elliott had a little bit of his zip back, but it went away the moment he got dinged. Pollard is a modern feature back, he is a guy Ive been likening to Aaron Jones. The modern NFL doesnt really have much use long term for a 20-25 carry a game back. When was the last 1,300+ yard rusher to win a SB? Lynch? The modern NFL back is a guy like Pollard that can gash teams in spread formations, with the defense in Nickel

 

[LovinItAll]

This is idiotic. Zeke is averaging less yards now on less carries - he had 301 carries in 2019 for 4.5, 304 carries in 2018 for 4.7. He also played in an extra game this year and topped 1,000 yards because of it.

He's middling as an RB right now and being paid like a top 3 back.

No. He had 85 fewer carries than 2016. As I said in an earlier post, if he’d gotten those carries with his ayc, he’d be the 2nd leading rusher this year.

 

[mattjames2010]

No. He had 85 fewer carries than 2016. As I said in an earlier post, if he’d gotten those carries with his ayc, he’d be the 2nd leading rusher this year.

Nearly any decent RB that had 322 carries would lead the league in yards. This still doesn't change the fact that he was averaging nearly an entire yard less with 80+ few carries. That's not a positive.

As for him leading the league in rushing, There were only two backs with 300+ carries this year, Taylor had 1,800+ yards, 18 TDs, and averaged over 5 yards a carry. Harris got force fed despite being pretty mediocre. But it's silly to ONLY use Zeke here, if you are to adjust, you would have to do this with all other RBs.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

No. He had 85 fewer carries than 2016. As I said in an earlier post, if he’d gotten those carries with his ayc, he’d be the 2nd leading rusher this year.

I love the brilliance of this…”if we just arbitrarily add extra carries to Zeke’s numbers and keep everyone else the same, he ends up being the 2nd leading rusher!”

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

So explain the higher YPC with MORE carries? Pretty easy computation.

What specific numbers are you referring to?

 

[Cmac]

LOL, first of all WItten had a lot of detractors at the end who weren't sad to see him go. So that's an odd comparison. Many love him but also admit he hung on way too long.

Romo? Surely you can't be arguing that he was beloved by all right? Romo had a huge group that said he was overrated, overpaid.

You really are now just grasping at straws. But again, at the end of the day, the reality is Elliott just isn't great anymore. He's declined. He's not an upper level guy anymore. He's limited compared to what he was 2-3-4 years ago. He's not the best runner right now on the roster. He offers other things such as blocking and and appears to still be a good tough yards kind of runner. But he's paid and eating up cap space over the life of his contract where he needs to be much better than he is. This article that started this thread lays out the data pretty clearly.

You just struggle to admit what is patently obvious at this point. So instead of debating the data and stats, you resort to talking about things that really don't apply to how his play has declined.

.......yet you never, ever, ever.......mention anything about the play of the OL. Never, ever, ever.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

.......yet you never, ever, ever.......mention anything about the play of the OL. Never, ever, ever.

You mean the same o-line that’s helped Pollard run for 5.5 YPC?

 

[CyberB0b]

The mouth breathers won’t understand the information. They’ll revert to oversimplified tenants like “you gotta let him find his rhythm.” Zeke has devolved into a plodding power back that offers little outside of pass protection and short yardage utility.

The fact that we paid him after he was holding out with two years left is asinine.

 

[MyFairLady]

The fact that we paid him after he was holding out with two years left is asinine.

+100%. Complete madness. It shows what the focus is for the front office. The focus is pimping out the "stars". You take the best contract value wise on the entire team and you turn it into the worst contract overnight for absolutely no reason. It is a master class in how not to achieve long term success in todays NFL.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Yeah. I’m really going out on a limb aren’t I? Lol

Yes....yes you are.

We've seen it before many times. You ignore history to suit your imagination.

I've said it before...I don't know if he can or can't. If the Cowboys want to try it and see fine But there are risks.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

The fact that we paid him after he was holding out with two years left is asinine.

Big fan here and I would have let him sit.

 

[MyFairLady]

Anyone who can remember what he looked like with the ball in his hands in 2016 watches him today with only sadness.

 

[blueblood70]

What a load of BS, the only thing that matters with a running back is that average per carry.

Zeke

5.1
4.1
4.7
4.5
4.0
4.2

Career average a gaudy 4.5 that is better than Emmitt and Dorsett and a ton of Hall of Famers so what's the problem?

I know they dont look at history and actual facts , only names.

22 had more than HALF his career YPC average UNDER 4YPC why hes a volume back and no different than any other Zeke needs carries and to be the 3 down back to be effective. after 2019 the OL, OC and many other factors changed not truly zeke.

Henry this year YPC 4.2 zeke 4.2 yes that was when they had the exact number of carries. most volume backs are the same and zekes ben team player taking his reduced role like leader. he was at 5.1 YPC the first 7 games and IF he would have ebn given 90% of rhe carries during those 7 games i guarantee he has 1400+ yards this year..

only 7 backs this year broke 1k those saying its not big deal, ok why only 7? the fact he fought through injuries and accepted his reduced role doesn't make him unimportant, defenses still game plan for zeke hes the key on almost all the snaps.. watch the games closely Pollards best runs were zeke being decoy many defenders followed zeke and pollard got that step he needed.

zeke may not be 2016 zeke but neither are any of the offensive players that were here then..things changed so zeke stats and role has changed,

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I know they dont look at history and actual facts , only names.

22 had more than HALF his career YPC average UNDER 4YPC why hes a volume back and no different than any other Zeke needs carries and to be the 3 down back to be effective. after 2019 the OL, OC and many other factors changed not truly zeke.

Henry this year YPC 4.2 zeke 4.2 yes that was when they had the exact number of carries. most volume backs are the same and zekes ben team player taking his reduced role like leader. he was at 5.1 YPC the first 7 games and IF he would have ebn given 90% of rhe carries during those 7 games i guarantee he has 1400+ yards this year..

only 7 backs this year broke 1k those saying its not big deal, ok why only 7? the fact he fought through injuries and accepted his reduced role doesn't make him unimportant, defenses still game plan for zeke hes the key on almost all the snaps.. watch the games closely Pollards best runs were zeke being decoy many defenders followed zeke and pollard got that step he needed.

zeke may not be 2016 zeke but neither are any of the offensive players that were here then..things changed so zeke stats and role has changed,

1. 1,000 yards is effectively 59 yards per game
2. There aren’t a lot of 1,000+ rusher because the league has dramatically slanted to a passing game
3. Secondly, most teams have a RB by committee approach
4. Zeke doesn’t deserve to touch the ball 20-25 times a game; he is a non-threat

 

[Cmac]

You mean the same o-line that’s helped Pollard run for 5.5 YPC?

Yep, that one. If you want to hang your hat on "splash" plays........good luck with that. And that is not to diminish TPollard's play, at all.....just your high expectations and the small sample size. For that matter, let's toss out Cory Clement since he looked good against his former team.

 

[Sydla]

.......yet you never, ever, ever.......mention anything about the play of the OL. Never, ever, ever.

Again, another fabrication. In fact, I've been on record multiple times the OL has issues and that they should have experimented with Collins at LG and Steele at RT as that would get their 5 best OL on the field. I have also said they need to fix the OL in the offseason, specifically the LG and OC spots.

But a decline in the OL doesn't explain away all Zeke's decline. He's not the same RB he once was. Usage has affected him. As I said, you struggle to accept that reality.

Here's a small sample of my commentary on the OL, which apparently I never, ever, ever talk about.

https://cowboyszone.com/threads/hope-the-dl-and-ol-are-ready-next-week.491443/#post-11618213

https://cowboyszone.com/threads/dak-watch-all-22-10-plays.491136/page-3#post-11597427

 

[Cmac]

Again, another fabrication. In fact, I've been on record multiple times the OL has issues and that they should have experimented with Collins at LG and Steele at RT as that would get their 5 best OL on the field. I have also said they need to fix the OL in the offseason, specifically the LG and OC spots.

But a decline in the OL doesn't explain away all Zeke's decline. He's not the same RB he once was. Usage has affected him. As I said, you struggle to accept that reality.

Here's a small sample of my commentary on the OL, which apparently I never, ever, ever talk about.

https://cowboyszone.com/threads/hope-the-dl-and-ol-are-ready-next-week.491443/#post-11618213

https://cowboyszone.com/threads/dak-watch-all-22-10-plays.491136/page-3#post-11597427

Really?
Cowboys’ offensive line is average at best, and that’s why the offense is stuck in mediocrity (***BANNED-URL***)
https://sportdfw.com/2021/08/23/dallas-cowboys-assessing-offensive-line-depth

 

[Sydla]

Really?
Cowboys’ offensive line is average at best, and that’s why the offense is stuck in mediocrity (***BANNED-URL***)
https://sportdfw.com/2021/08/23/dallas-cowboys-assessing-offensive-line-depth

What does this prove? That the OL is a factor in our team's struggles at times? No one has denied that. I linked two post (out of many) where I talk about OL issues. I've never denied we have some OL concerns.

The only denier here is you who can't accept the reality that Zeke isn't a great TB anymore. You want to make this an either/or situation. It's both. The OL hasn't played great and Elliott just isn't a great TB anymore.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Yep, that one. If you want to hang your hat on "splash" plays........good luck with that. And that is not to diminish TPollard's play, at all.....just your high expectations and the small sample size. For that matter, let's toss out Cory Clement since he looked good against his former team.

You know Zeke could help his YPC if he had a few “splash plays.”

Pollard led the league in least percentage of runs of 0 or negative yards. Y’all are dealing with feelings not the facts.

Yeah, I would like our Top 3 paid running back to manage a few splash plays…go figure.

Chubb had the same number of splash plays this season as Zeke has had in the past three seasons.

 

[Cmac]

You know Zeke could help his YPC if he had a few “splash plays.”

Pollard led the league in least percentage of runs of 0 or negative yards. Y’all are dealing with feelings not the facts.

Yeah, I would like our Top 3 paid running back to manage a few splash plays…go figure.

Chubb had the same number of splash plays this season as Zeke has had in the past three seasons.

Honestly not trying to convince you........just enjoy slicing into the theory. You can rely on numbers or moments. or metrics the way they are presented. I'll rely on film and the eye test and the Big Picture......the complete picture. Maybe Zeke should pull a "Dak", when talking about his O line, as Dak once did regarding Dez......"I guess I have to block for myself too." All good. BTW.....since you address Chubb for comparison......I'll go out with "Cleveland OL is better than ours." Now what?