What to expect from Ezekiel Elliott in 2024

[zrinkill]

Has anyone done a wellness check on CowboyRoy?

I'm concerned

 

[charron]

Under 750 yards, way under. If you want a RB that gets a lot of yards you will be disappointed but if you are looking for a guy that can pass protect, run hard, and is good at picking up 1st downs and scoring TD's as a backup then Zeke fits.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Under 750 yards, way under. If you want a RB that gets a lot of yards you will be disappointed but if you are looking for a guy that can pass protect, run hard, and is good at picking up 1st downs and scoring TD's as a backup then Zeke fits.

So you are saying less than 44 a game? WAY less?


That will mean our O-line sucks basketballs!

 

[RonnieT24]

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.

Go look up the best seasons for Curtis Martin and John Riggins.. I think you will find that they both had their best years after age 30. Walter Payton was also still pretty productive after 30 and he had a lot more miles on his body than Zeke does at this age. Look at the run Marcus Allen had in KC after being left for dead in Oakland. Bettis had a similar resurgence in Pittsburgh. Point being, people need to quit acting like backs just forget how to play football because they hit a certain age.

 

[DuncanIso]

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.

That's not why Zeke is here.

Zeke scores TDs and makes a lot of 1st downs.

They know his speed is not elite.

They dont care.

They want TDs and 1st Downs.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Go look up the best seasons for Curtis Martin and John Riggins.. I think you will find that they both had their best years after age 30. Walter Payton was also still pretty productive after 30 and he had a lot more miles on his body than Zeke does at this age. Look at the run Marcus Allen had in KC after being left for dead in Oakland. Bettis had a similar resurgence in Pittsburgh. Point being, people need to quit acting like backs just forget how to play football because they hit a certain age.

It will boil down to o line.

Its one reason pollard is gone...if it wasnt for our crappy o line the last few years the guy would have had a ton of yards. Maybe resigned.

Cowboys have dang near admitted it doesnt matter until we are sure the line and scheme is fixed.

 

[DuncanIso]

So you are saying less than 44 a game? WAY less?


That will mean our O-line sucks basketballs!

Game:
3.2 1st downs
0.58 TDs

Season:
55 1st downs
10 TDs

Those are the numbers he needs to hit.

 

[charron]

So you are saying less than 44 a game? WAY less?


That will mean our O-line sucks basketballs!

The OL may just be terrible. Hard to say but unless they move smith to LT that spot will 100% be an issue. But also Zeke won't be starting. I don't know if he will even get 10 carries a game, which only gives him 33 yards on the ground. 3rd and short (1-2yards) and inside the 5 are all zeke all day but outside of that they most likely use Dowdle as the starting back (bulk of the carries).

 

[JoeKing]

What to expect from Zeke depends on the O-line—enough said.

 

[RonnieT24]

The OL may just be terrible. Hard to say but unless they move smith to LT that spot will 100% be an issue. But also Zeke won't be starting. I don't know if he will even get 10 carries a game, which only gives him 33 yards on the ground. 3rd and short (1-2yards) and inside the 5 are all zeke all day but outside of that they most likely use Dowdle as the starting back (bulk of the carries).

I will be fine with Dowdle starting as long as he's productive. Then bringing Zeke in to punch it in and then close out games when we're ahead because dude has like 1 fumble in his last 4-5 hundred touches! I'm a fan of Zeke.. but I'm a bigger fan of what works. If starting Dowdle and letting him have the bulk of the carries between the 20's works.. then so be it. But once we get in the red zone I don't wanna see him or any other back on the roster in the lineup. It needs to be Zeke all day every day and twice on Sunday.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

That's not why Zeke is here.

Zeke scores TDs and makes a lot of 1st downs.

They know his speed is not elite.

They dont care.

They want TDs and 1st Downs.

Who is the primary yardage back then?

 

[KJJ]

I expect him to be used a lot in short yardage, and goal line. We’re going to have to be careful not to overuse him or a nagging injury could pop up. He had problems with that his last couple of seasons with the Cowboys. With the weak group of RBs we have we better hope we don’t run into injuries. If things don’t go well with this group, we could make a trade for an RB during the season.

 

[charron]

I will be fine with Dowdle starting as long as he's productive. Then bringing Zeke in to punch it in and then close out games when we're ahead because dude has like 1 fumble in his last 4-5 hundred touches! I'm a fan of Zeke.. but I'm a bigger fan of what works. If starting Dowdle and letting him have the bulk of the carries between the 20's works.. then so be it. But once we get in the red zone I don't wanna see him or any other back on the roster in the lineup. It needs to be Zeke all day every day and twice on Sunday.

Can't argue with this. I worry about Dowdle staying healthy which has been an issue for years. But if he faulters there or in production one thing I know is Zeke will run hard down the stretch and only seems to get better as games go on especially if we have the lead.

 

[gimmesix]

The OL may just be terrible. Hard to say but unless they move smith to LT that spot will 100% be an issue. But also Zeke won't be starting. I don't know if he will even get 10 carries a game, which only gives him 33 yards on the ground. 3rd and short (1-2yards) and inside the 5 are all zeke all day but outside of that they most likely use Dowdle as the starting back (bulk of the carries).

I disagree with you about Elliott starting. We have no other starting RBs on this roster.

 

[beware_d-ware]

Jerry wants to get him to 10,000 career yards so bad, that it's crazy.

 

[charron]

I disagree with you about Elliott starting. We have no other starting RBs on this roster.

2023 Dowdle 89 carries, 361 yards, averaged 4.1 yards per carry. Now he needs to stay healthy and that has been an issue but he should be ok starting.

 

[kskboys]

I disagree with you about Elliott starting. We have no other starting RBs on this roster.

Freeman.

 

[EPL0c0]

I expect Zeke to be the 3rd down/pass protection & short yardage/goalline option. 50-75 carries, 200-350yds, 4-6 TDs.

 

[RonnieT24]

Freeman.

Freeman will be interesting to watch in preseason. I assume since they won't want to expose Zeke or Dowdle to unnecessary hits he will be the main back most of the preseason. If he tears it up he will have to jump into that starting back conversation. If Freeman has juice left then by all means let's squeeze it out of him! But let's be real here.. His career average is 3.8 ypc and the longest run of his career is 26 yards. People complaining about Zeke's lack of big plays would lose their minds watching Freemen plod along. He also has 10 career rushing TDs. Zeke has 4 SEASONS with more than that. I'm not seeing a lot to get excited about with Freeman but if he goes off he goes off and I scream like hell for him to run for a hundo every Sunday!

This is the way...

 

[TwentyOne]

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



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

7-10 carries per game.

~ 550-600 yds on the season.