Why Getting Ezekiel Elliott Was The Right Move

[Toruk_Makto]

Elliott's going to be a lot of fun to watch, and he certainly makes the team better. And who knows, he may turn out better than Ramsey. But...

We passed on the top player on our board. The draft process in Dallas is broken (again, or still). That's the big takeaway from yesterday.

When you have a bad process, you can sometimes get good results, but you're hurting yourself in the long run. The Cowboys will never build a consistent winner until they put good processes in place throughout the organization, and then stick to those processes.

This is exactly right.

I'm hoping for the best. But this was a dumb move from an asset allocation decision while also exposing to the world that we have a broken draft process which many of us had hoped was fixed with Will in charge.

I always give the benefit of the doubt until given reason to doubt.

 

[Sydla]

And people are praising the move.

Essentially saying for the same money they'd rather have Zeke than Lamar Miller AND Jalen Ramsey.

And then wonder why others think this is the height of stupidity.

When you put it like that, it really does make it sting a little bit more.

 

[Howboutdemcowboys31]

We overdrafted the easiest position to fill in the NFL. If he's not a perennial all-pro, it was a dumb pick. Even if he is, it was probably a dumb pick.

Jerry said he was the number one rated player on their board. Not to mention no matter who we took defensively it wasn't going to make our defense good or great. Let's score 42 a game and force a few punts. I personally love the pick

 

[tm1119]

4.6 YPC with Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel, and Kellen Moore at QB...and we then use the #4 overall pick on a RB? Stupidity.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

When you put it like that, it really does make it sting a little bit more.

But no we should be happy because Zeke (who is a great player no doubt) will do well for us....for a few years anyway.

 

[Longboysfan]

Put him in the 22 jersey and go from there.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Jerry said he was the number one rated player on their board. Not to mention no matter who we took defensively it wasn't going to make our defense good or great. Let's score 42 a game and force a few punts. I personally love the pick

There is no way Zeke was in a tier by himself.

And it still doesn't make sense from the perspective of why not fill rb later or in fa instead of throwing the 4th pick in the draft at it?

 

[MichaelWinicki]

We overdrafted the easiest position to fill in the NFL. If he's not a perennial all-pro, it was a dumb pick. Even if he is, it was probably a dumb pick.

The guy's a good player, I can see that.

I think he was over-drafted or let's say the position was over-drafted.

How do you use him enough without wearing him out?

Right now the team has about $10 mil invested in the position, which seems excessive to me.

 

[dfense]

Probably the best RB talent of all time. What a player.

Another "best ever" who will never catch a wiff of Emmitts numbers.

 

[Sydla]

The guy's a good player, I can see that.

I think he was over-drafted or let's say the position was over-drafted.

How do you use him enough without wearing him out?

Right now the team has about $10 mil invested in the position, which seems excessive to me.

And there is the problem. You are seeing it a bit now in some other threads talking about how we now need to keep Elliott "fresh" and not run him into the ground in 3 years.

What? The fact you are concerned that your 4th pick could be ran into the ground in 3 years doing his actual job which is carry the ball, a lot, then you made the wrong pick.

If the guy you picked at the 4th pick now needs to be limited in his usage to keep him fresh for 5 years and you (general comment, not directed at you) agree with that, then you just unwittingly admitted what the anti-TB at 4 people have been saying all along.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

One other thing............ most of the Elliott fans sold us on the fact he's the best pick because he's an immediate impact guy. So we better be talking 1400-1600 yards minimum and 9-10 TDs minimum out of the shoot.

I don't want to see all the Elliott fans patting themselves on the back for a job well done when Elliott runs for 1,000 yards and 7 TDs his rookie year. He was supposed to much better than that, right from the start.

I'd almost hate to see him get that many carries... just from the point of wearing the guy out, but I understand the desire to see the investment pay off.

My immediate thought is 250 carries 1,250 yards and 10 TD's.

If he can't get 5ypc then I'll feel the Cowboys were jipped.

 

[Dundalis]

While I'm no big fan of the pick, I will say one thing in response to something that seems to get continually peddled out here. While you might trot out any old RB like McFadden or whoever and be successful in the running game with this line, it's not really about simply being successful. It's about being dominant. So dominant it seriously impacts possession time and hence the defence. I don't think you necessarily have a dominant running game with McFadden and Morris. Even with healthy Romo and Dez, I don't think they have the same impact with the running game as Murray did in 2014. Elliott looks odds on to replicate and potentially even improve on that.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

And there is the problem. You are seeing it a bit now in some other threads talking about how we now need to keep Elliott "fresh" and not run him into the ground in 3 years.

What? The fact you are concerned that your 4th pick could be ran into the ground in 3 years doing his actual job which is carry the ball, a lot, then you made the wrong pick.

If the guy you picked at the 4th pick now needs to be limited in his usage to keep him fresh for 5 years and you (general comment, not directed at you) agree with that, then you just unwittingly admitted what the anti-TB at 4 people have been saying all along.

Agreed. It is a problem.

I personally would keep the guy at about 250 carries.

If the Cowboys had 500 total carries like in '14, then the other 250 would be split amongst Murray and Morris. I don't know about Dunbar making the club.

 

[Idgit]

I'd almost hate to see him get that many carries... just from the point of wearing the guy out, but I understand the desire to see the investment pay off.

My immediate thought is 250 carries 1,250 yards and 10 TD's.

If he can't get 5ypc then I'll feel the Cowboys were jipped.

Ride him into the ground. RBs have short shelf lives. Use him up and replace him. You can get good ones in the third round, after all.

 

[Sydla]

While I'm no big fan of the pick, I will say one thing in response to something that seems to get continually peddled out here. While you might trot out any old RB like McFadden or whoever and be successful in the running game with this line, it's not really about simply being successful. It's about being dominant. So dominant it seriously impacts possession time and hence the defence. I don't think you necessarily have a dominant running game with McFadden and Morris. Even with healthy Romo and Dez, I don't think they have the same impact with the running game as Murray did in 2014. Elliott looks odds on to replicate and potentially even improve on that.

2014 - Dallas was 3rd in TOP at 32 minutes a game with Romo and Murray
2015 - Dallas was 10th in TOP at 31 minutes a game with no Romo and McFadden

People are erroneously trying to make the claim that the defense wasn't fresh last year because they were on the field way too long compared to 2014.

 

[CATCH17]

Another "best ever" who will never catch a wiff of Emmitts numbers.

Hey I don't want to argue because Emmitt is my favorite player ever but Adrian Peterson to me is the best talent to ever play that position.

The speed and violent nature than he runs with are something we've never seen before. He's terrifying.

 

[JoeBoBBY]

Well, we will see soon. If he is starting against the Giants in the opener, logging the majority of the carries, and converting the third and short yardages. Then yeah, he was the right pick.

If he can't a) stay healthy and b) beat out Morris and McFadden, the hello Houston, we have a major problem.

And yes, we are talking the opener against the Giants. RBs don't get even a few redshirt games to sit and learn. He better be starting ASAP or he is going to be labeled a bust.

I hope he is out there. Good luck to him. We need him to put up 1500 yards on the ground.

You are right... I would give him 6-7 games, of transfer time, but he needs to show what he has got.....right away. This season...

I think he will. I really think he is going to be a big asset in the passing game as well. I love the pick. Absolutely love the pick.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

2014 - Dallas was 3rd in TOP at 32 minutes a game with Romo and Murray
2015 - Dallas was 10th in TOP at 31 minutes a game with no Romo and McFadden

People are erroneously trying to make the claim that the defense wasn't fresh last year because they were on the field way too long compared to 2014.

In my world Elliott had better average at least 5YPC. If not... I'm going to be even less pleased with the selection.

 

[Mactin]

Look everybody either way any help for the cowboys is good for the team overall. Would getting a defense player helped? Of course it would help because any help is good but you can't deny that 2014 was a great season for the cowboys due to the run game. We had problems on defense that season but it was minimize because of the offense and the run game.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Ride him into the ground. RBs have short shelf lives. Use him up and replace him. You can get good ones in the third round, after all.

I understand that point of view, but I'm hoping they don't.