Starting late March, as I read any and all things draft related, I came to the conclusion that the Cowboys should/would draft Zeke…had to draft him. In the scheme of things, it just made the most amount of sense that the Cowboys would recognize the approaching expiration date of Romo and make one final push to get it done, by giving him the ultimate weapon – an all-around excellent Running Back who is a threat to take it to the house on any given play at any given point on the field, by any means of ball distribution – toss, pass, handoff, screen, etc. That teamed with Romo, Dez, Witten, Beasley, etc would give opposing defensive coordinators too much to stop in one game.
Whereas, had the Cowboys drafted to please the so-called experts, they would have drafted a QB and defense and possibly a WR late. The latter draft, however, would have been a draft that essentially would tell Romo, “you had a nice run kid, but we are moving on.”
Why?
Because drafting defense regardless of where you take them typically do not contribute in any significant way in their first year. Sure, there are exceptions to that rule, but those exceptions are rare…and I’m not even sure that immediate impact player was available in this draft. At least, not a guy who will fix what was broken on the Cowboys defense.
So, I made the prediction that should they draft Zeke, they will go to the playoffs. I further stated that they would give Zeke the #22 and that in an effort to be trite, Jerry would say something to the extent of, “When you put 88 with 22, you are going to get 110 percent.” Just sounds like something Jerry would say.
So let’s review: The Cowboys did draft Zeke and I shango’d all over myself. I ran around the house yelling “yes, yes, yes.” Leading up to the draft, I consistently heard the commish in my head saying, “With the fourth overall pick of the draft, the Dallas Cowboys select…(pause for effect)…Ezekiel Elliot Running Back Ohio State.” I heard it bouncing around my head over and over and knew that that was what I was going to hear when it actually happened. And then it happened. For the first time in my draft watching life, the Cowboys picked my pet cat.
Now, granted, I understand it’s not like I just guessed the winning lottery numbers. The odds in my favor of being right were somewhat decent, despite the supposed rule against drafting running backs in the first and the fact that they had already addressed the position in Free Agency with Alfred Morris. Furthermore, the Cowboys have yet to give the man #22, though, I am holding out hope that they will do so at some point prior to the season…no offense to the purist out there that are against ever seeing that number worn again. So, on that prediction, we are still in wait and see mode.
For the fun of it, though, I have yet another prediction to make:
As I was driving home in tumultuous weather last night and mulling over all the various arguments against Zeke that have sprouted up, a future Nike/other sports brand commercial popped in my head. One that is by no means in existence to my knowledge, but something I expect to see at some point in the playoffs following the upcoming season:
We hear Zeke narrating over a series of highlights from the past season. He starts with: They said I’m not AP. They said I’m not Todd Gurley. They said I’m not Emmitt Smith. They said I’m not worthy of the fourth overall pick. Everything they said…(pause for effect)…was right. I’m Zeke and I should have gone first overall.”
Blast away!
