Why did Zeke's abilities nose dive?

[Reverend Conehead]

In Zeke's first two seasons, he was one of the best, or maybe the best, running back in the league. It was all downhill after that. In his last season, he was just a basic running back who could block pretty well and get you some short yardage when you need it. Other Cowboys running backs were productive way longer than Zeke. Calvin Hill, Tony Dorsett, and Emmitt Smith helped their teams way, way longer than Zeke did. Zeke was productive probably about as long as DeMarco Murray was.

What happened? I know some fans say that he got paid a bunch of money and then just got lazy. However, his play last season didn't look lazy to me. It looked like he was working really hard, but he just wasn't anywhere near as good as he used to be. Did his body just wear out? Or did he do a poor job training? Did the pandemic slow him down? What happened?

 

[Cowboys5217]

He got that bag and that was his only objective. Jones should have realized this when he held out with two years on his contract.

No other explanation makes any sense.

 

[Doomsday]

I assume your body can only take so much damage as it happens to most running backs who are as physical as he is.

People say he took the money and stopped caring, but I always see clips of him online working his butt off in the offseason so I don't buy that theory.

 

[ChronicCowboy]

Lack of desire imho. He has all the physical talent in the world and could have stayed a dominant player through his 20’s.

 

[Big_D]

He over ate.

 

[SinceDayOne]

Old timers would tell you that NFL stands for "Not For Long." And that is especially true for running backs. Sure there are exceptions such as Emmett and Walter Payton but in general RB careers are short. They take a lot of hits. A lot of hits from two or more tacklers at the same time. A lot of hits they never saw coming and were unable to brace themselves to absorb the hit. Often you hear the term "running back wall" and some guys reach it quicker than others. That is just the nature of the position.

 

[JayFord]

Running backs dont last long

he wasnt lazy, he gave it 100% but if you touch the ball 250-300 times every year plus injuries piling up over 7-8 seasons youre going to nosedive alot of elite runningbacks have

 

[JayFord]

Zeke was productive as long as Demarco Murray was?

cmon now...lets be serious

 

[diamonddelts]

It has nothing to do with the mental aspect of his game. Zeke had more rushing yards than Derrick Henry until the end of the 2022 season.

Zeke was a amazing running back that was as good as anyone from his rookie year on. However, mcl and pcl tears to the knee have robbed him of his abilities.

 

[JayFord]

It has nothing to do with the mental aspect of his game. Zeke was a amazing running back that was as good as anyone from his rookie year.However, mcl and pcl tears to the knee have robbed him of his abilities

^^^ this

I can just imagine the year Terrell Davis retired if he decided to actually play that year im sure with having severe arthritis in both knees he wouldve finished with 500 yards maybe

those hits and injuries add up

 

[KJJ]

He got that bag and that was his only objective. Jones should have realized this when he held out with two years on his contract.

No other explanation makes any sense.

If you don’t think there’s another explanation, you must not have been watching the game very long, It’s not because he got paid, it’s because he had over 300 carries in three of his first four seasons and it took its toll. Even when he first arrived he wasn’t breaking off a lot of long runs. He did a lot of damage between the tackles and you could see by year 5 he had slowed down and lost his burst. Some of his decline was due to the decline of our OL. During his rookie year our OL was the best in the business.

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

1881 carries over 7 years takes a toll quickly. He was brilliant throughout his early career but it simply ran it's course. Glad he got his $ when he did and I hope he can live a happy life full of big hats, good cereal, and bejeweled nose rings.

 

[kumizi]

He had an incredibly heavy workload and a punishing running style. The dip in his production/effectiveness is completely normal and expected.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I assume your body can only take so much damage as it happens to most running backs who are as physical as he is.

People say he took the money and stopped caring, but I always see clips of him online working his butt off in the offseason so I don't buy that theory.

Yeah, it became a joke folks just kept running.

I was a big critic of Zeke but would never seriously say he got fat or lazy. His body and athleticism just deteriorated.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

If you don’t think there’s another explanation, you must not have been watching the game very long, It’s not because he got paid, it’s because he had over 300 carries in three of his first four seasons and it took its toll. Even when he first arrived he wasn’t breaking off a lot of long runs. He did a lot of damage between the tackles and you could see by year 5 he had slowed down and lost his burst. Some of his decline was due to the decline of our OL. During his rookie year our OL was the best in the business.

He didn’t break long runs his rookie season?

That ain’t accurate.

He had just five runs of 40+ yards in his career; all but two of those came his rookie year.

Similarly, he had 14 runs of 20+ in 2016, the most in his career.

 

[KJJ]

He didn’t break long runs his rookie season?

That ain’t accurate.

He had just five runs of 40+ yards in his career; all but two of those came his rookie year.

Similarly, he had 14 runs of 20+ in 2016, the most in his career.

What you said isn’t accurate, because I never said he didn’t break off any long runs his rookie year. I said he didn’t break off “a lot” of long runs. You might want to go back and read my post again.

 

[stilltheguru]

He chose not to stay in shape and refused to run out of bounds

 

[conner01]

1881 carries over 7 years takes a toll quickly. He was brilliant throughout his early career but it simply ran it's course. Glad he got his $ when he did and I hope he can live a happy life full of big hats, good cereal, and bejeweled nose rings.

Your body is like a car. It can be just 3 years old but if it’s got 300k miles on it then it’s gettiing wore out

 

[JD_KaPow]

He's a running back. RBs fade away young. It's what they do. And RBs that get worked a ton fade away fast (that includes college, and Zeke was worked a ton in college). The exceptions are few and far between, and you should never base your expectations on the exceptions.

You don't have to assume anything about his psychological state, which we can't know anyway. He's a running back: no further explanation necessary.

 

[Motorola]

In Zeke's first two seasons, he was one of the best, or maybe the best, running back in the league. It was all downhill after that. In his last season, he was just a basic running back who could block pretty well and get you some short yardage when you need it. Other Cowboys running backs were productive way longer than Zeke. Calvin Hill, Tony Dorsett, and Emmitt Smith helped their teams way, way longer than Zeke did. Zeke was productive probably about as long as DeMarco Murray was.

What happened? I know some fans say that he got paid a bunch of money and then just got lazy. However, his play last season didn't look lazy to me. It looked like he was working really hard, but he just wasn't anywhere near as good as he used to be. Did his body just wear out? Or did he do a poor job training? Did the pandemic slow him down? What happened?

Appreciable question to ask, Rev. C. (I know numerous answers will be in jest ( overweight, his "ewok" look, etc.)
But - after his release two months ago I pondered it some.
Reviewing his stats, one would notice Elliott achieved his best yards per game average during his rookie season ---and it went into significant decline every year thereafter.
His yards per carry, except for his third year, mirrored the downturn (as to be expected).
For those who would blame a neglect to a solid work ethic to become better - anorher contributing factor that could be looked at - the crumbling of "The Great Wall Of Dallas".