Zeke’s speed comes and goes

[JoeKing]

At one pint, zeke looked fast again. The. When Steele went out, he looked slower. We really need him to be fresh abd fast in the playoffs: he’s stronger abd tougher. We’ll need that to make it to the superbowl.

It's Super Bowl, not superbowl. Zeke is fast enough, stop your whining.

 

[lukin2006]

He is overpaid and washed up. He was never worth that second contract and he held out like a whiny 2 year old and failed to deliver at all. Time to MOVE on from him…

 

[America's Cowboy]

Watching the blocking and play calling is painful.

 

[Cowboy_svt]

That's what wowed me about Emmitt Smirh. He was about the same until his early 30s

Wish we had the Moose blocking for our RBs too (no knock on 22, i just miss FBs)

 

[ConstantReboot]

At one pint, zeke looked fast again. The. When Steele went out, he looked slower. We really need him to be fresh abd fast in the playoffs: he’s stronger abd tougher. We’ll need that to make it to the superbowl.

He is and always will be slow.

 

[MyFairLady]

Tubby is done like dinner. If the front office has any sense the next loss will be his last as a Cowboy.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

At one pint, zeke looked fast again. The. When Steele went out, he looked slower. We really need him to be fresh abd fast in the playoffs: he’s stronger abd tougher. We’ll need that to make it to the superbowl.

well, his speed depends on the slope of the hill. he runs faster down hill than in a flat area.

 

[RonnieT24]

That's what wowed me about Emmitt Smirh. He was about the same until his early 30s

That's because Emmitt's game was never predicated on speed. It was built on vision, change of direction, balance, patience, acceleration and most of all intelligence and toughness. Those things don't abandon you over time.. At least not as much as speed and quickness.. If you watched Emmitt even as far back as high school the first thing you noticed about his running style is he never appeared to be in a hurry. His patience was legendary and his vision to see the blocking develop and acceleration through it were second to none.

Ironically Zeke didn't really started to work on his patience and vision until year three. Then in year four he had become much more patient.. only by the offensive line was starting to decline.. So the holes he had now conditioned himself to wait for were not longer coming. Or at least not sticking around for very long. At the same time Kellen Moore took over the offense and the offense became much more shotgun heavy.. which simply wastes Zeke as a runner IMHO. Giving him the ball from a standstill is just dumb. He needs to get the ball going downhill .. We do do that very much anymore.. and I hate it.

 

[RonnieT24]

Also hasn't had the blocking he had in 2016 either. I think he still runs like he has that line but them days are gone.

Nah.. Zeke never glided along in the backfield waiting for holes to develop back in his early days. When he first came into the league he was a "take the ball and haul arse" runner. He didn't start waiting for things to develop until year three or four.

 

[shabazz]

If the stars from the NBA can exploit “Load Management” by staying home and playing video games, why can’t Ezekiel conserve his speed while in games?

 

[RonnieT24]

If the stars from the NBA can exploit “Load Management” by staying home and playing video games, why can’t Ezekiel conserve his speed while in games?

People who think Zeke is slow probably never watched Emmitt.. Zeke is not slow.. he is patient.. Unfortunately his patience leaves him waiting for holes that never open. 80-90% of his carries are between the tackles right into the teeth of the defense. If the line doesn't block you're not going to get a lot of production in there. But that's the role the Cowboys have chosen for Zeke.. Pound the defense and let Pollard eat on the outside. The combination works really well most of the time.. but it takes a toll on the pounding guy. Especially when he is also tasked with acting as a 6th offensive lineman on pass plays. It is what it is. I do think if he can operate without the knee brace tonight we will see a little more burst from him. He only had what? 8? carries against Washington and 32 snaps total. That was essentially an extra day off for him. His body should be as fresh as one could expect ..