Zeke - playing him way too much!

[Redsfan_83]

For now he serves a purpose and important role. If we can cut him and save cap room next year then we have to cut him, but will need to find another back to play his role. Surely there has to be some out there who can fill in for a fraction of the price

 

[Darkhound]

He’s useless I’m faster than him and I’m 40. San Fran d is a monster. Need speed and someone to hit hole hard. Play Davis instead - Zeke as deco and pass block only. STOP WITH THE ZEKE RUN UP MIDDLE!!!!

I am 45 and I can probably run faster as well.
Ever since he held out on Cabo that time I knew this moron was nothing good.
I hope he is gone next season.

 

[XXLMike]

You can make the case Malik Davis should be the #2.

 

[USArmyVet]

2022-2023 stats

Pollard 208 carries 1,084 yards 5.21 ypc 9 td's 43 catches 383 yards 8.9 ypc 3 td's

Zeke 243 carries 903 yards 3.7ypc 12 td's 18 catches 101 yards 5.6 ypc

Davis 38 carries 161 yards 4.2 ypc 1 td 6 catches 63 yards 10.5 ypc

Those were Dallas' top 3 running backs this season. Clearly, most can agree that Pollard has earned the #1 RB spot for Dallas and the first question is what will Dallas do in terms of re-signing or applying the franchise tag to Pollard to keep him in Dallas next season.

The next question, and the more difficult one, is what will Dallas do with Zeke going forward? While Zeke was the franchise his first 3 seasons, stats and the eye test show he is no longer what he used to be and has taken a back seat to Pollard this season. Zeke's 2023 cap hit figure is $16.7M with $11.8M worth of dead money remaining. If Dallas treats Zeke as a post-June 1st release, they will split his dead money between 2023 & 2024 resulting in $5.9M worth of dead money each season (a 2023 net savings of almost $11M and a 2024 net savings of $8.4M).

Given Jerry's penchant for emotional decisions at times, I fear they restructure Zeke so as to keep him for another few years. While Zeke has done much for Dallas, his time to go as come and allow Pollard to be the feature back he earned after this season. The question will be has Davis shown enough in his small sample size ti be a viable back-up running back and does Dallas look towards the draft or free agency to find a comparable back to partner with Pollard?

 

[Cmac]

Just can't help it......why.....we won the game. Zeke has a role.....it is no longer getting 20+ carries and 100+ yds, due to the emergence of TPollard play, style & versatility. Some want him to continue his early years when there wasn't a TPollard to alleviate the wear & tear, or the diminished play of our OL that we've been accustomed to. Let it go.....we won. And stay out his pockets. Until I see TPollard taking the full load and getting 100 yds games at the frequency Zeke did and pass protecting too......Hmmm. No disrespect to TPollard.

Should be writing about our Kicker today and our Star CB that refuses contact.

 

[Tommy]

He’s useless I’m faster than him and I’m 40. San Fran d is a monster. Need speed and someone to hit hole hard. Play Davis instead - Zeke as deco and pass block only. STOP WITH THE ZEKE RUN UP MIDDLE!!!!

Crap!

We exceeded all expectations and completely dominated the game and still did it wrong. These coaches don’t know what their doing!

 

[RonnieT24]

LMAO @ all these old turds claiming they can outrun Zeke.. You guys are hilarious. Unfortunately it appears Zeke's body is worn down and will end his tenure in Dallas as a blocking back. The end comes for every one.. I'm still happy we have him though and I was glad to see the Kellen Moore read my suggestion and lined him up at wide receiver a couple of times and told him to go get the linebacker or the safety. His blocks sprung Pollard on his two longest runs last night. Those are the blocks I have complained all year that our tight ends and receivers miss all the time. Zeke got them. He did kinda whiff on one other sweep when he was lined up as fullback but he got just enough of the guy to allow Pollard the lane to cut it back for 7-8 yards but if Zeke hit's him solid that one might have scored. But on the other two Zeke creamed his man and paved the way for a nice gain. I know people like to crap all over the guy for his salary (like he pays himself) but as a former football player who spent most of his playing days as a role/complementary player I appreciate a former superstar who embraces shifting into that role as gracefully as Zeke has. I'll miss him when he's gone. But he's got three more games to play for the Cowboys!

 

[jazzcat22]

Wow, we won and we get another whine thread.

 

[Sydla]

2022-2023 stats

Pollard 208 carries 1,084 yards 5.21 ypc 9 td's 43 catches 383 yards 8.9 ypc 3 td's

Zeke 243 carries 903 yards 3.7ypc 12 td's 18 catches 101 yards 5.6 ypc

Davis 38 carries 161 yards 4.2 ypc 1 td 6 catches 63 yards 10.5 ypc

Those were Dallas' top 3 running backs this season. Clearly, most can agree that Pollard has earned the #1 RB spot for Dallas and the first question is what will Dallas do in terms of re-signing or applying the franchise tag to Pollard to keep him in Dallas next season.

The next question, and the more difficult one, is what will Dallas do with Zeke going forward? While Zeke was the franchise his first 3 seasons, stats and the eye test show he is no longer what he used to be and has taken a back seat to Pollard this season. Zeke's 2023 cap hit figure is $16.7M with $11.8M worth of dead money remaining. If Dallas treats Zeke as a post-June 1st release, they will split his dead money between 2023 & 2024 resulting in $5.9M worth of dead money each season (a 2023 net savings of almost $11M and a 2024 net savings of $8.4M).

Given Jerry's penchant for emotional decisions at times, I fear they restructure Zeke so as to keep him for another few years. While Zeke has done much for Dallas, his time to go as come and allow Pollard to be the feature back he earned after this season. The question will be has Davis shown enough in his small sample size ti be a viable back-up running back and does Dallas look towards the draft or free agency to find a comparable back to partner with Pollard?

A restructure of Elliott would be the single dumbest thing this franchise could do this offseason. The only way he should be here is if he takes a massive pay cut. If not, he should be an easy cut.

 

[Sydla]

You watch Elliott last night and he was basically a fullback.

I'd have no issues with Elliott back if his cap hit next year was like $4 million. It ain't.

 

[nightrain]

The last few games, Zeke's looks like he has been running in concrete shoes. I don't know if it's the grass, but he is counterproductive as a runner now. Oh, grass for the next 3 games.

 

[Doomsday]

They misused him most of the night, he is too slow to run a bunch of misdirection runs, and he needs to be up the middle or quicker one-cut runs.

 

[stinkface]

Zeke is 13 out of 15 on short yardage 3rd downs this year they said last night. I think he serves a purpose, but no doubt he isn't quick to the hole and has zero burst left. He certainly isn't paying up to what he's getting paid it seems.

 

[charron]

I'm ok with sharing the load. The issue I have is if 1 RB is getting 5 yards a clip, the other at 2.5, then it's clear which back you feed more going forward through out the game. Pollard has been just as good blocking as Zeke for most of this year so that shouldn't be the excuse either.

 

[CowboyRoy]

He’s useless I’m faster than him and I’m 40. San Fran d is a monster. Need speed and someone to hit hole hard. Play Davis instead - Zeke as deco and pass block only. STOP WITH THE ZEKE RUN UP MIDDLE!!!!

Worst back in the nfl.

 

[RonnieT24]

They misused him most of the night, he is too slow to run a bunch of misdirection runs, and he needs to be up the middle or quicker one-cut runs.

I didn't like seeing him in the knee brace last night. I was kinda hoping that thing would have calmed down enough to let him play without it because there is no doubt it robs you of speed and quickness. In fact the one he was wearing last night looked bigger and bulkier than the one he was wearing the last couple of weeks but maybe that was the optical illusion of the white pants. Still the fact that he is still wearing it is telling. Clearly that knee is NOT all the way back and in fact may bever be. That saddens me because I can't help but think that playing 12 games on it last year did permanent damage to it and we will only see glimpses of the Zeke of old from here on out.

 

[Coogiguy03]

I do think Davis needs to cut into Zeke’s Carrie’s as well.

Would make too much sense

 

[Coogiguy03]

I'm ok with sharing the load. The issue I have is if 1 RB is getting 5 yards a clip, the other at 2.5, then it's clear which back you feed more going forward through out the game. Pollard has been just as good blocking as Zeke for most of this year so that shouldn't be the excuse either.

SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT, YES, he hasn't been that bad in pass pro as people like to say. Tony needs to be on the field more

 

[Coogiguy03]

I didn't like seeing him in the knee brace last night. I was kinda hoping that thing would have calmed down enough to let him play without it because there is no doubt it robs you of speed and quickness. In fact the one he was wearing last night looked bigger and bulkier than the one he was wearing the last couple of weeks but maybe that was the optical illusion of the white pants. Still the fact that he is still wearing it is telling. Clearly that knee is NOT all the way back and in fact may bever be. That saddens me because I can't help but think that playing 12 games on it last year did permanent damage to it and we will only see glimpses of the Zeke of old from here on out.

It may, but with or without it, he's slow! No excuses

 

[Coogiguy03]

Stop giving him the ball in any situation.

Amen