Twitter: Three reasons why Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott will remind fans why he's one of the top running backs in

[Rockport]

"Effective"? Pollard is "effective". Elliott has to be better than "effective" given the cap number he's eating up. How confident are you that Elliott will return to greatness, that level of play we saw as a rookie?

And the comparisons to Smith have to stop. Smith played in a different era where the run game had more influence on outcomes of games. Since then, the league has shifted to a passing league where the rules favor passing. Trying to compare RBs today to guys who played in the 80s and 90s is a poor comparison.

Listen, we all have control of how we look at things. You choose to be a negative Nancy about everything I choose to be optimistic. It's who you are and who I am. You've decided being a negative person is fine. I disagree and think my outlook is the better one. In fact I don't think, I know.

 

[Sydla]

Listen, we all have control of how we look at things. You choose to be a negative Nancy about everything I choose to be optimistic. It's who you are and who I am. You've decided being a negative person is fine. I disagree and think my outlook is the better one. In fact I don't think, I know.

The problem is history doesn't help you here. You have long always taken the position that criticism of the Cowboys is unfair and unwarranted and then a season happens, the Cowboys fail to do anything of note and all those negative nancies, as you call them, are largely proven to have been right. Wash, rinse and repeat.

So if anything, no one has been more wrong than you have over the years. Case in point, the Garrett run. You would throw hissy fits about people criticizing Garrett. But those people were right and you were wrong (although I have noted you've tried to shift your stance recently as I have seen you now agree Garrett needed to go).

At this point for many fans, talk is cheap. Offseason videos are worthless. Prove it on the field. With Elliott, it's great he's working hard. I hope he finds the Elliott of 2016. But I also won't be a sucker and just assume it will end up that way. This team, and its players, have spit the bit way too much to just assume every single year everything is gonna be awesome.

 

[USArmyVet]

I love facts and logic. That's why I disagree with the haters like you.

Then why when someone provides facts about Dak or Zeke do you get emotionally upset and subsequently refer to those people as haters and trolls and negative people?

 

[Rockport]

The problem is history doesn't help you here. You have long always taken the position that criticism of the Cowboys is unfair and unwarranted and then a season happens, the Cowboys fail to do anything of note and all those negative nancies, as you call them, are largely proven to have been right. Wash, rinse and repeat.

So if anything, no one has been more wrong than you have over the years. Case in point, the Garrett run. You would throw hissy fits about people criticizing Garrett. But those people were right and you were wrong (although I have noted you've tried to shift your stance recently as I have seen you now agree Garrett needed to go).

At this point for many fans, talk is cheap. Offseason videos are worthless. Prove it on the field. With Elliott, it's great he's working hard. I hope he finds the Elliott of 2016. But I also won't be a sucker and just assume it will end up that way. This team, and its players, have spit the bit way too much to just assume every single year everything is gonna be awesome.

I wanted Garrett gone his last 2 years. Before then, I gave him a chance. As for you, you obviously believe there's no chance for the Cowboys ever so why do you watch? Why do you come here and ***** about everything all the time every day? Rhetorical question as we all know why as I explained in a previous post in this thread to you.

 

[USArmyVet]

Listen, we all have control of how we look at things. You choose to be a negative Nancy about everything I choose to be optimistic. It's who you are and who I am. You've decided being a negative person is fine. I disagree and think my outlook is the better one. In fact I don't think, I know.

So you have described yourself as positive and optimistic yet attack people who disagree with you regarding certain players or the organization's success and future.......how is that being positive and optimistic?

 

[Sydla]

I wanted Garrett gone his last 2 years. Before then, I gave him a chance. As for you, you obviously believe there's no chance for the Cowboys ever so why do you watch? Why do you come here and ***** about everything all the time every day? Rhetorical question as we all know why as I explained in a previous post in this thread to you.

LOL. Yeah sure you did.

Where did I say they have no chance? I said they should win the division this year. They clearly are a playoff contender but I worry the defense still isn't close to good enough to not get exposed by better offensive teams.

 

[Rockport]

LOL. Yeah sure you did.

Where did I say they have no chance? I said they should win the division this year. They clearly are a playoff contender but I worry the defense still isn't close to good enough to not get exposed by better offensive teams.

Not playing your silly games.

 

[Sydla]

Not playing your silly games.

LOL.

So here is what will happen. Four months from now, if the Cowboys are in first place in the division, you'll then claim I thought the team would stink this year despite me saying the exact opposite. But I expect that from you. You have a loose grasp of what is true and what is not.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Absolutely they judge players for it. Because it's a key factor in how good a team is. If a team pays 5 players elite money and 3 or 4 of those players all end up being just decent players, guess what? The team likely isn't going to be as good as one would hope. We have seen that crop up here in Dallas where over the years, when you look at cap usage, it has tilted towards the offense and inevitably it ends up being the defense that sinks the team in a season.

So yeah, fans judge players and their production relative to their cap hits. It's just a reality of your team playing in a capped league. If there was no cap in the NFL, few Cowboys fans would then care about what Elliott or any other player is making. But in a capped league, where the Cowboys often have a flawed roster, absolutely, looking at the various cap hits players take up and their production is a fair analysis.

It's not that I don't root for Elliott. I hope he does great. It's that I acknowledge the reality that he's being paid to be elite and he hasn't been recently. That's an issue. And frankly, it's not even really about Elliott for me personally. I think spending money on a TB like we did and Tennessee did and others have done (Rams for example) is just a bad use of cap space. So it's not even personal with Elliott. I guess you could say it's personal for all TBs in general.

Alright...we'll just have to disagree on the significance of salaries to a fan....cool?

Hasn't been elite..."recently". Define "recently". 2020? Ummmm....ok.

Let's give him a fresh chance this year, whaddya say? Kind of let our boots off his neck for a sec.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

"Effective"? Pollard is "effective". Elliott has to be better than "effective" given the cap number he's eating up. How confident are you that Elliott will return to greatness, that level of play we saw as a rookie?

And the comparisons to Smith have to stop. Smith played in a different era where the run game had more influence on outcomes of games. Since then, the league has shifted to a passing league where the rules favor passing. Trying to compare RBs today to guys who played in the 80s and 90s is a poor comparison.

ALLLLLLLLL of our #2's have been "effective". Sometimes obscenely so.

Until they get put in the #1 spot. Pollards fits that mold to a T. He didn't even start in NCAA, IIRC.

Don't get me wrong...i LOVE our 1-2 punch...if only Moore could figure out how to do it.

"Oh look...Zeke's hand is up, in ya go Tony!" Infuriating.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Playing in the NFL is hard. Takes a lot of effort and dedication. Some of his lack of "explosion" may be due just to having 5 years in the league, it can be a grind, keeping one's enthusiasm to go out every game and get beat to a pulp (especially the way he runs) is probably hard. Many criticize him for losing his edge after "getting paid", but how many of us wouldn't do the same? I know I didn't pay as much attention to my wife, or do "little things" for her since marriage as opposed to before marriage. The drive to do so is not there to the same degree, that's just the way it is.

"Re-discovering" his purpose, his drive to be the best, is something he needs to do...

We have also asked him to block for...normal RB blocking as well as decimated o-line...blocking D-line!

He, and others say he's more driven this year. Even the man everyone says is team "leader". Why not trust him?

 

[kskboys]

You're absolutely right. I hate the haters.

So, you've become what you despise.

 

[kskboys]

"Effective"? Pollard is "effective". Elliott has to be better than "effective" given the cap number he's eating up. How confident are you that Elliott will return to greatness, that level of play we saw as a rookie?

And the comparisons to Smith have to stop. Smith played in a different era where the run game had more influence on outcomes of games. Since then, the league has shifted to a passing league where the rules favor passing. Trying to compare RBs today to guys who played in the 80s and 90s is a poor comparison.

Only as a backup. Pollard has a lot more runs for no gain than EZ.

 

[Sydla]

Only as a backup. Pollard has a lot more runs for no gain than EZ.

You missed the point. Pollard is "effective". But Rockport introduced the concept of "effective" to describe Smith and I guess by extension, Elliott.

But Elliott has to be more than "effective". He has to be great to justify his cap hit. He can't just be "effective". I can get "effective" TB play for much less of a cap hit.

 

[Sydla]

Alright...we'll just have to disagree on the significance of salaries to a fan....cool?

Hasn't been elite..."recently". Define "recently". 2020? Ummmm....ok.

Let's give him a fresh chance this year, whaddya say? Kind of let our boots off his neck for a sec.

Not sure what a fresh chance means. He gets no redos. It's put up or shut up time from Elliott. It's been awhile since we've seen the type of TB we saw from Elliott as a rookie.

 

[MarcusRock]

So you have described yourself as positive and optimistic yet attack people who disagree with you regarding certain players or the organization's success and future.......how is that being positive and optimistic?

Honestly, it sounds like trying to convince yourself you're not miserable and then getting mad at those that won't play along with your plan. The other thing you have to consider is that this message board is a stage for some and there might be a personal need to be notorious in some way to boost personal feelings of significance. So some of this might just be bait. I certainly think that's the case with some who choose being cantankerous as their way of being notorious for "something." Works for some politicians and media folk; why not try it here? Lol.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Not sure what a fresh chance means. He gets no redos. It's put up or shut up time from Elliott. It's been awhile since we've seen the type of TB we saw from Elliott as a rookie.

I think we're looking for the same thing...just saying it way differently. {shrug}

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

So, you've become what you despise.

It's truly unbelievable what a masterhater he is while lecturing everyone else about theirs.

 

[Thomas82]

Right or wrong, this is really the only thing that can make him a dominant back again. IF it's not too late.

When Zeke came in, he was a massive bruising back who also had break-away speed. He was a nimble, massive man capable of running through, around and/or away from defenders. Unlike 33 or 22, he did not seem to have the same sense of urgency to remain at the top. It was like he just expected to stay there. It looked like he allowed lots of distractions into his life. In my opinion, the distractions have kept him from maximizing his years as an athlete...and those years are fleeting.

Those are obviously just my perceptions. I could be wrong. I HOPE I'm wrong. It's also not lost on me that he's only 25. If his attitude becomes one of focus, a true driven focus to become/regain a top back in the league, he could add years of real productivity to his career. If he doesn't, the drop off will continue and he'll remind us of just how special backs like Emmitt, Walter Payton, Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders and Dorsett really were.

One or two years of dominance is not enough for a guy drafted fourth overall for me. I wanted this guy in the draft. I was convinced he could run right by people for the next 10 years. I admittedly haven't given him the benefit of the doubt lately. No one will be happier if my thoughts about him right now look silly in about 5 years than I will.

I agree with every word of this.

 

[Ranched]

He'll be just fine, if not, he'll be gone in 2022. It just doesn't get much simpler.