NewsBot
New Member
- Messages
- 111,281
- Reaction score
- 2,947
Ezekiel Elliott is not one of the NFL’s top players under 25-years old, allow that sink in for a moment. The reigning rushing champion isn’t good enough to be on a list that includes top players in the league under 25-years old.
Now realize this isn’t a fact, just an opinion of Pro Football Focus who put out their annual top 25 players under 25 years of age at the start of the upcoming season. Elliott did not make the list, but he did manage to make the “just missed” portion.
Mark Chichester and PFF cited their reasoning:
Elliott gets dinged for having the offense flow through him, a preposterous line of thinking. Downgrading a player that is so good that the team builds around him is silly. Punishing him for still leading the league when the opposition clearly focuses their defensive game plan around stopping him is absurd.
Ironically, fellow running backs Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt and Saquon Barkley managed to find their way onto the top 25 list. None of those backs led the league in rushing last year and Elliott has led the NFL in rushing yards in two of his first three seasons. Additionally, only a bogus suspension kept Elliott from (likely) having three rushing titles in each of his first three seasons.
The Cowboys do rely on Elliott and there were some struggles in 2018 because of a down year from the offensive line. Also, the Cowboys did not have the offensive fire power in their arsenal that the Chiefs or Saints did, until Amari Cooper came along halfway through the season.
Elliott is one of, if not the best back in the league. His rushing yards, yards after contact, first-down conversions and touchdowns are among the best in the game. Defenses spend each week game planning to stop Elliott and he still manages to affect the game. In his first three years with the Cowboys, the team is 28-12 with Elliott in the lineup, and just 4-4 without.
It’s fair to say that Elliott isn’t just one of the top 25 players under the age of 25, he’s arguably one of the top 25 players in the NFL. The Cowboys rely on him for their offense click and he is undoubtedly one of the best players in the league.
Any list that doesn’t include him is a waste of time.
You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.
Gallery
Cowboys 2019 Depth Chart, position by position
Continue reading...
Now realize this isn’t a fact, just an opinion of Pro Football Focus who put out their annual top 25 players under 25 years of age at the start of the upcoming season. Elliott did not make the list, but he did manage to make the “just missed” portion.
Mark Chichester and PFF cited their reasoning:
“There’s no doubt that Ezekiel Elliott is one of the top players at his position, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that his production is, in large part, thanks to the offense that Dallas has built around him. Over the last three years, Elliott ranks first in rushing attempts (868), rushing yards (4048), rushing yards after contact (2567) and first down conversions (219). However, his three-year rushing grade of 80.2 ranks ninth among the 36 backs with at least 300 attempts in that span, while his 0.119 missed tackles forced per attempt ranks tied for 27th among the same group.”
Elliott gets dinged for having the offense flow through him, a preposterous line of thinking. Downgrading a player that is so good that the team builds around him is silly. Punishing him for still leading the league when the opposition clearly focuses their defensive game plan around stopping him is absurd.
Ironically, fellow running backs Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt and Saquon Barkley managed to find their way onto the top 25 list. None of those backs led the league in rushing last year and Elliott has led the NFL in rushing yards in two of his first three seasons. Additionally, only a bogus suspension kept Elliott from (likely) having three rushing titles in each of his first three seasons.
The Cowboys do rely on Elliott and there were some struggles in 2018 because of a down year from the offensive line. Also, the Cowboys did not have the offensive fire power in their arsenal that the Chiefs or Saints did, until Amari Cooper came along halfway through the season.
Elliott is one of, if not the best back in the league. His rushing yards, yards after contact, first-down conversions and touchdowns are among the best in the game. Defenses spend each week game planning to stop Elliott and he still manages to affect the game. In his first three years with the Cowboys, the team is 28-12 with Elliott in the lineup, and just 4-4 without.
It’s fair to say that Elliott isn’t just one of the top 25 players under the age of 25, he’s arguably one of the top 25 players in the NFL. The Cowboys rely on him for their offense click and he is undoubtedly one of the best players in the league.
Any list that doesn’t include him is a waste of time.
You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.
Gallery
Cowboys 2019 Depth Chart, position by position
Continue reading...