The curious case of Ezekiel Elliott

[reddyuta]

if you draft a qb with the fourth pick and romo goes down you are still going to finish the year 4 and 12 or worse. Elliot is the best player in this draft not just the best running back. he would make a huge difference in 2016.

If Romo goes down its over,no matter who we draft .It will also mean his career is over,i will feel better if we have a Rookie QB who can learn the first season even if we dont win many games.

 

[erod]

I respect your view. But no thanks.

This team needs a QB for the future to start training. Romo is another back injury away from being finished. It could happen in Game 1, Game 5, Game 12, etc. Who knows? But the prudent thing to do is to start getting ready today. It's called thinking proactively.

There will not be a better time than now to get one than right now, unless you want to go 4-12 again.

Get the QB. And get him at #4. Or higher if your scouts think he's that good.

I just don't think Goff, Wentz, or Lynch will amount to anything. Just more scrubs and a wasted No. 4 pick in the end.

 

[Shunpike]

Is Zeke so much better than Gurley? Even Gurley wasn't picked in Top 5.

 

[tm1119]

No way...taking aside the fact that you should pretty much never take a top 5 RB, you also have to factor that Zeke wouldn't even be a top 3 RB in next years class.
People make him out like he's the greatest RB ever when he's not, just the best 1 right now.

 

[Direwolf63]

I just don't think Goff, Wentz, or Lynch will amount to anything. Just more scrubs and a wasted No. 4 pick in the end.

Fair enough.

There are dozens of write-ups out there that think otherwise.

 

[erod]

Is Zeke so much better than Gurley? Even Gurley wasn't picked in Top 5.

Yes, he is. Far more complete.

 

[Nova]

I would prefer Ramsey if he's there. But Zeke is really hard to turn down.

Would be happy with either.

 

[erod]

Fair enough.

There are dozens of write-ups out there that think otherwise.

Consider this. I think Elliott would help the Cowboys defense more than any defensive player in the draft. Agree?

 

[Direwolf63]

Consider this. I think Elliott would help the Cowboys defense more than any defensive player in the draft. Agree?

A solid running game always helps the defense. McFaddon ran for 1,100 yards last year and didn't start the first 4 games. He could easily have rushed for 1,400 yards had he been the starter day 1. How much better can Elliott be? 1,800 yards? 2,000 yards? 2,300 yards? I don't think so.

Regarding the offense helping the defense, the best thing that could happen is having Romo and Dez healthy and producing for 16 games.

 

[DFWJC]

Chicago likes their rookie from last year. I don't see them taking him.
The Giants might though. Maybe even Philly.

Elliot would be a beast behind this line though.
Tough call for me at 4, but I understand why many want him

 

[tyke1doe]

So because other running backs picked at the top of the draft failed means Ezekiel Elliott is going to fail if he's picked at the top of the draft?

I don't look at Cadillac Williams to judge Ezekiel Elliott. I don't even look at Adrian Peterson to judge Ezekiel Elliott. Those men had to make their own careers and determine their own value. And Ezekiel Elliott will do the same for himself.

All players, like all teams, are different. Ezekiel Elliott may not make a difference on a team like the Browns. He might make a world of difference on a team like the Cowboys or the Seahawks or the Patriots.

I think he will have the most impact (this year) of any player the Cowboys can pick. From my perspective, Bosa is not J.J. Watt. Jalen Ramsey is not Deion Sanders and Myles Jack is not Ray Lewis. But, from my estimation, Ezekiel Elliott is an Emmitt Smith.

And if we had to do it over again but had to draft Emmitt Smith higher than we took him, knowing what I know now, I would have taken him in the top 5. Heck, I would have taken him No. 1 overall.

Just make the pick and move on.

 

[fredp22]

other than the "I dont think you should take a rb that high" argument, noone has given any reason why this pick is bad. I also dont see anyone I will feel bad passing over for this pick. He is exactly what we need for our offense and oline.
Just do it Jerry.....please

 

[DeaconMoss]

Yes, he is. Far more complete.

And with 2 good knees

 

[DFWJC]

One thing that there is no denying,
the fan base would be out-of-their minds excited to add Zeke--especially after the immediate post-draft value analysis had passed.

I tend to think if we want him we should drop down a few slots IF possible. I don't see Jacksonville, Baltimore or San Francisco taking him. A trade with SF give us at the very least another 3rd rounder.

But if our front office flat out loves him, even at 4, I won't whine about it.

 

[Silver N Blue]

I don't question the talent. What I question is whether its a wise allocation of resource to invest such capital at the position. How many SB teams recently have had a bellcow RB?

The NFL has changed and the rules are different than they were 10 years ago. Back then investing a top 5 pick on a RB was the smart move given how the league was. But today in a pass first league investing a top 5 pick at a position where the shelf life is on average 5 years seems like a waste. I would argue that you could get nearly similar production in Rds 3-5 while you use that top 5 pick at a more impact position (DE, QB, S).

How many times in the history of the Cowboys have they been a legit SB contender when they haven't deployed the bellcow approach? Never

 

[tyke1doe]

The NFL has changed and the rules are different than they were 10 years ago. Back then investing a top 5 pick on a RB was the smart move given how the league was. But today in a pass first league investing a top 5 pick at a position where the shelf life is on average 5 years seems like a waste. I would argue that you could get nearly similar production in Rds 3-5 while you use that top 5 pick at a more impact position (DE, QB, S).

We were primarily a passing team prior to 2014, and where did that get us?

We had Romo's arm, we had TO, we had DeMarcus Ware and a bunch of average running backs, and where did that get us?

We need to start taking dynamic players - WHATEVER position they play.

Too many fans are worried about five years out. Well, the draft comes around every year. Outside of the quarterback, I don't care what Ezekiel Elliott can do beyond five years. I care what he does in his first year. And then I'll move on from there.

Besides, Jason Garrett wants to run an offense similar to the offense we ran in the 90s. And that offense was run-dominated. Emmitt made that offense go (Derek Lassic couldn't do it, Sherman Williams couldn't do it. Blair Thomas couldn't do it, and a bunch of other journeymen running backs couldn't either).

If Ezekiel Elliott can give us an Emmitt-like impact, take him. Last I checked Cortez Kennedy, Junior Seau and Keith McCants didn't win their teams any Super Bowls.

 

[Sydla]

One thing that there is no denying,
the fan base would be out-of-their minds excited to add Zeke--especially after the immediate post-draft value analysis had passed.

I wouldn't be out of my mind excited.

Again it's not that I think Elliott can't play. He can. But I am firmly in the camp that in today's NFL, you can find real value at the TB spot in later rounds. Now I might understand it slightly, if we had a mediocre line and needed an elite TB to make up for some of the shortcomings of the OL. But we don't have the problem. We have an OL that turned a 3rd round pick many wanted to dump in Murray, into an 1,800 yard rusher and a guy people wanted no parts of in McFadden into a 1,000 yard rusher.

I think the wise move here is take a defensive player or a QB at 4, and then replicate Murray with this OL by going with a TB in the 3rd or 4th round.

 

[DFWJC]

I wouldn't be out of my mind excited.

Again it's not that I think Elliott can't play. He can. But I am firmly in the camp that in today's NFL, you can find real value at the TB spot in later rounds. Now I might understand it slightly, if we had a mediocre line and needed an elite TB to make up for some of the shortcomings of the OL. But we don't have the problem. We have an OL that turned a 3rd round pick many wanted to dump in Murray, into an 1,800 yard rusher and a guy people wanted no parts of in McFadden into a 1,000 yard rusher.

I think the wise move here is take a defensive player or a QB at 4, and then replicate Murray with this OL by going with a TB in the 3rd or 4th round.

Yeah...I'm referring to the average fan out there looking for instant gratification.

 

[Sydla]

We were primarily a passing team prior to 2014, and where did that get us?

We had Romo's arm, we had TO, we had DeMarcus Ware and a bunch of average running backs, and where did that get us?

We need to start taking dynamic players - WHATEVER position they play.

Too many fans are worried about five years out. Well, the draft comes around every year. Outside of the quarterback, I don't care what Ezekiel Elliott can do beyond five years. I care what he does in his first year. And then I'll move on from there.

Besides, Jason Garrett wants to run an offense similar to the offense we ran in the 90s. And that offense was run-dominated. Emmitt made that offense go (Derek Lassic couldn't do it, Sherman Williams couldn't do it. Blair Thomas couldn't do it, and a bunch of other journeymen running backs couldn't either).

If Ezekiel Elliott can give us an Emmitt-like impact, take him. Last I checked Cortez Kennedy, Junior Seau and Keith McCants didn't win their teams any Super Bowls.

Ummmmm............

We had Murray in 2013................... so it's not like we added a bellcow back in 2014 and the world just changed for the Cowboys. We had the same skill pieces in 2012 and 2013. What changed was actually the OL, specifically Martin plugged in at OG in 2014 and a commitment from the coaching staff to run more.

So when you said "we had average backs" prior to 2014, you are basically saying Murray was average. Well how did he become great in 2014?

 

[DFWJC]

Kind of surprised that Kiper doesn't have Elliot going until 20th overall.