What to expect from Ezekiel Elliott in 2024

[DogFace]

What running back ever improved when they were old? OJ Anderson? Anyone else?

I think Zeke is done except as a short yardage guy.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Since 2019, his yards per carry have dropped from 4.5 to 4.0 to 4.2 to 3.8 to 3.5. And This won’t exactly be the best Dallas Oline he’s run behind.

It has been 614 carries and over 2.5 years since his last attempt that went just 30 yards.

Last year Dallas was 19th in rushing attempts in the first year of McCarthy’s hands-on offense. Kellen never had the offense that low, averaging a top 10 running attack during his tenure.

So Mike McCarthy’s new offensive philosophy + Zeke’s diminishing output + an Oline in flux…. OPOY is not technically impossible.

 

[kskboys]

Cheering from the sidelines as a better RB gets yards?

 

[America's Cowboy]

I am making a few assumptions:

• It should be 'Over or under'
• Ezekiel Elliott will be the starting running back
• Elliott will get 60% or more of all carries
• The offensive line gels together by midseason

My guess is Elliott rushing for over 750 yards this season if my assumptions come true.

Elliott was a backup to Rhamondre Stevenson last season until Stevenson injury cost him the final five games after hurting his ankle in the first quarter against the Chargers. Bill Belichick was emphasizing a rushing attack over a sputtering passing game impacted by a porous Patriots' offensive line.

Dallas enters the season with question marks about its offensive line but I highly doubt it will perform as poorly as New England's last season. Plus, the Cowboys' passing game is notably superior to the Patriots. It should translate to opposing defenses not totally disrespecting the pass and focusing almost completely on stopping the run, which New England faced week-to-week in 2023.

Elliott netted 642 rushing yards last year. Running for just over 100 yards more this year should be easily doable if he stays healthy. Whether he has any chance of topping 1,000 yards in 2024 is a solid question.

DE, could you please fix my opening post's last sentence and make it "Over or Under"? I was half asleep (probably sleep typing since I don't remember creating this thread...lol) and must have left "Under" out by mistake.

 

[kskboys]

DE, could you please fix my opening post's last sentence and make it "Over or Under"? I was half asleep (probably sleep typing since I don't remember creating this thread...lol) and must half left "Under" out by mistake.

Do the "half" to?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[America's Cowboy]

Do the "half" to?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doh!!! Darn, that too.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

So Mike McCarthy’s new offensive philosophy + Zeke’s diminishing output + an Oline in flux…. OPOY is not technically impossible

The good news is we don't need him averaging 4+ yards per carry to make an impact. There are many other ways he can help this team. To be honest, I'm excited to see what Rico can do.

 

[Praxit]

Looks like Zeke still has some thread on his tires and some fuel left in his tank.



Over or Ezekiel Elliott rushing for 750 yards in 2024...

...I say Zeke will be surprise this year. Over > 750.

 

[JonesBoys]

Looks like Zeke still has some thread on his tires and some fuel left in his tank.



Over or Ezekiel Elliott rushing for 750 yards in 2024...

I'm going over. I thought he had a good season on one of the worst offenses in the league last year. It won't be prime Zeke but he could be solid.

 

[DallasEast]

DE, could you please fix my opening post's last sentence and make it "Over or Under"? I was half asleep (probably sleep typing since I don't remember creating this thread...lol) and must have left "Under" out by mistake.

Done.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Cheering from the sidelines as a better RB gets yards?

He would.

Just wish some fans would cheer HIM on likewise. As best ss they are able.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Over...

Gives me a good reason to cheer him on even more.

 

[diamonddelts]

One blade of grass per carry.

 

[RonnieT24]

Believe it when I see it. We were told the same thing his last 2-3 seasons in Dallas. One more year of wear and tear with the Pats.

Your take is fair. Unfortunately he got dinged around midseason those last 2 seasons in Dallas. But I will continue to remind people, before his knee injury in 2021 he was 2nd in the NFL in rushing and was averaging about 5.4 yards per carry. Had he sat out 5-6 games to let that knee heal like he should have, I have little doubt that he would have continued that level of production and we probably would not be having this conversation. If he gets that knee scoped and comes back fully healed in 2022 he probably improves on the 4.2 ypc he was getting THAT year before the knee acted up on him again. He never made it back to full health that year (again) and basically looked terrible the rest of the way. But last year with the Pats he got 184 carries and like 50 catches. That was the next best thing to a year off frankly. More importantly he never got hit on the knee and it never seems to act up on him. He also took a swing pass like 75 yards to the house that was called back because of a penalty but gave him a chance to show off that he got his jets back. He also had two other 30+ yard runs that were brought back by penalty but he showed good burst on those as well. Perhaps the most impressive play he had though was the catch and run TD against Denver where he hurdled the tackler and barely broke stride on the way into the end zone! And that game was like week 15 or 16. For him to still have that in the tank so late in the season showed me a lot.

Bottom line is I think Zeke will be fine.. I think his body is healed up and he can go back to being Zeke. Not 2016-19 Zeke but better than Tony Pollard was for us last year. He will be more reliable in short yardage and will probably single handedly do away with last year's red zone struggles.

 

[jazzcat22]

I am glad Zeke is back. He can only help the team if used right. I would be happy with 750 yards and a lot of 1st downs to keep drives alive, as well as those TD's inside the 10 yard line. Rather rushing from within the 5 or pass protecting for Dak.
I can see a few RB screens for TD's as well.

 

[jazzcat22]

I am making a few assumptions:

• It should be 'Over or under'
• Ezekiel Elliott will be the starting running back
• Elliott will get 60% or more of all carries
• The offensive line gels together by midseason

My guess is Elliott rushing for over 750 yards this season if my assumptions come true.

Elliott was a backup to Rhamondre Stevenson last season until Stevenson injury cost him the final five games after hurting his ankle in the first quarter against the Chargers. Bill Belichick was emphasizing a rushing attack over a sputtering passing game impacted by a porous Patriots' offensive line.

Dallas enters the season with question marks about its offensive line but I highly doubt it will perform as poorly as New England's last season. Plus, the Cowboys' passing game is notably superior to the Patriots. It should translate to opposing defenses not totally disrespecting the pass and focusing almost completely on stopping the run, which New England faced week-to-week in 2023.

Elliott netted 642 rushing yards last year. Running for just over 100 yards more this year should be easily doable if he stays healthy. Whether he has any chance of topping 1,000 yards in 2024 is a solid question.

Hey some do not like facts and figures and logic on here.

 

[jazzcat22]

Your take is fair. Unfortunately he got dinged around midseason those last 2 seasons in Dallas. But I will continue to remind people, before his knee injury in 2021 he was 2nd in the NFL in rushing and was averaging about 5.4 yards per carry. Had he sat out 5-6 games to let that knee heal like he should have, I have little doubt that he would have continued that level of production and we probably would not be having this conversation. If he gets that knee scoped and comes back fully healed in 2022 he probably improves on the 4.2 ypc he was getting THAT year before the knee acted up on him again. He never made it back to full health that year (again) and basically looked terrible the rest of the way. But last year with the Pats he got 184 carries and like 50 catches. That was the next best thing to a year off frankly. More importantly he never got hit on the knee and it never seems to act up on him. He also took a swing pass like 75 yards to the house that was called back because of a penalty but gave him a chance to show off that he got his jets back. He also had two other 30+ yard runs that were brought back by penalty but he showed good burst on those as well. Perhaps the most impressive play he had though was the catch and run TD against Denver where he hurdled the tackler and barely broke stride on the way into the end zone! And that game was like week 15 or 16. For him to still have that in the tank so late in the season showed me a lot.

Bottom line is I think Zeke will be fine.. I think his body is healed up and he can go back to being Zeke. Not 2016-19 Zeke but better than Tony Pollard was for us last year. He will be more reliable in short yardage and will probably single handedly do away with last year's red zone struggles.

See my post above.

 

[RonnieT24]

See my post above.

Yeah sometimes it seems as though people are rooting for guys to fail so they can be "right." Most of them will not even acknowledge that Zeke's lack of production his last two seasons in Dallas were largely a product of two factors: 1) The knee and 2) The guy calling plays. Moore's run offense suited Pollard not Zeke.. which made it a bad marriage since we were paying Zeke 16 million a year to run delays, draws and the like when we should have been having him run downhill blasts. By the same token the passes to him were almost always bailout throws where he was either pinned up against the sideline or standing still over the middle. And people wonder why he was not more productive as a pass catcher. The Pats actually schemed some passes to him and got results similar to what he was earlier in his career. He averaged 7.3 yards after the catch last year. For reference CeeDee averaged 5.0. Pollard averaged 5.8. In Zeke's last two seasons in Dallas his yards after catch were 5.9 and 5.2. The passes he got in Moore's offense basically left him nothing to work with. I'm hoping McCarthy does a better job in that department.

 

[ICP]

See last year

 

[John813]

What running back ever improved when they were old? OJ Anderson? Anyone else?

I think Zeke is done except as a short yardage guy.

Only one I can think of was Mostert, which was last year.

But in his case, he finally stayed healthy since coming to Miami. Not a wear and tear thing.