Zeke rushing yards compared to Emmitt and Dorsett

[G2]

This, dont tell the Barry Sanders fans that Emmit Smith didnt have a great OL. Plus this line still dont have anyone that has the nastiness of Big Williams before the accident.

Yeah, he was incredible.

 

[Bullflop]

Zeke's legacy is strictly a work in progress at this point in time. It takes far more proof of long term worthiness to make a good case for any RB. Guys like Emmitt and Dorsett have already had the benefit of time and ongoing health to mold their reputations. Zeke is still knocking on the door at this juncture. He'll be required to keep his nose clean, stay healthy and continue to perform outstandingly well in the present and well beyond that before his legacy is complete. To be sure, he's off to an excellent start but that's it.

 

[Fletch]

Landry stubbornly didn't play Dorsett much his rookie year. They also didn't use Emmitt much his rookie year on a team just finding its way.

Zeke, on the other hand, inherited the best offensive line in football, and they gave him a full load from Day 1.

But still damn impressive when ya sit 6 games (almost half the season).

 

[erod]

But still damn impressive when ya sit 6 games (almost half the season).

Dorsett only played 14 game seasons back then. So there's 4 games.

 

[aria]

It doesn't matter which OL is or was physically better, what matters is which one dominated their competition more.

The Cowboys OL in the mid to early 90s were over sized for that time if I remember correctly. That OL was better. They were pushing around all but the best defensive lines. It's hard to do that today without grouping together all pro bowlers.​

You mean like how we had something like 3-4 pro bowlers on the O line in 2016?

 

[Fletch]

Dorsett only played 14 game seasons back then. So there's 4 games.

You’re right. And Zeke I believe was held out of the last game his rookie year.

 

[erod]

You’re right. And Zeke I believe was held out of the last game his rookie year.

Zeke reminds me of Bo Jackson.

And I loved me some Bo Jackson.

 

[Batman1980]

Zeke is LT with more power.

 

[Diehardblues]

Elliott kinda reminds me of Duane Thomas of all of the Cowboy greats at RB.

Stats can be misleading when making comparisons.

 

[Diehardblues]

Zeke reminds me of Bo Jackson.

And I loved me some Bo Jackson.

You think? I’m not sure Zeke is that level of talent . We’ll see.

McFadden ran for over a 1,000 yards behind this line and didn’t start until week 6.

I think Zeke might be over rated in all of these comparisons

 

[Batman1980]

You think? I’m not sure Zeke is that level of talent . We’ll see.

McFadden ran for over a 1,000 yards behind this line and didn’t start until week 6.

I think Zeke might be over rated in all of these comparisons

He's the most well-balanced back we've had since Emmitt. He can do it all. Jump cuts, one cuts, power, speed, finesse, block, run, catch.

 

[erod]

You think? I’m not sure Zeke is that level of talent . We’ll see.

McFadden ran for over a 1,000 yards behind this line and didn’t start until week 6.

I think Zeke might be over rated in all of these comparisons

Absolutely, he is.

He has no weaknesses as a player.

 

[Diehardblues]

Absolutely, he is.

He has no weaknesses as a player.

Of course but comparisons to Bo and some of the GOAT appears a little premature at this time.

 

[erod]

Of course but comparisons to Bo and some of the GOAT appears a little premature at this time.

To be honest, Zeke is a better receiver, better blocker, and has better vision than Bo had.

He reminds me because of the combination of power and speed.

 

[plasticman]

Who was the best runner or who was the best at the position of runningback?

From the perspective of value to the team and contribution to success, you can't rule out receiving and blocking. No way to evaluate blocking but let's look at total yards from scrimmage which includes receiving yards.

There is also no control by the RB as to how often the coach decides to call his name. Really, there is also no perfect way to compare RB's with different skill sets, different circumstances and different eras.

That doesn't prevent us from trying,so here are a few additional points to provide additional perspective:

Yards from scrimmage, first two seasons:

Rk Player YScm
1 Eric Dickerson 4456
2 Edgerrin James 4442
3 Chris Johnson 3997
4 Billy Sims 3812
5 Clinton Portis 3777
6 LaDainian Toml 3775
7 Ottis Anderson 3573
8 Barry Sanders 3536
9 Adrian Peterson 3494
10 Le'Veon Bell 3474
16 Ezekiel Elliott 3246
18 Herschel Walker 3180
29 Emmitt Smith 2986
30 Tony Dorsett 2983

Yards Per Touch, first two seasons:

Rk Player YPT
1 Herschel Walker 6.4
2 Clinton Portis 6.0
3 Barry Sanders 5.9
4 Abner Haynes 5.9
5 Gale Sayers 5.8
6 Charley Taylor 5.8
7 Ray Rice 5.8
8 Chris Johnson 5.7
9 David Johnson 5.7
10 Frank Gore 5.7
21 Tony Dorsett 5.3
26 Ezekiel Elliott 5.2
70 Emmitt Smith 4.4

This list was made from all RB's with 2000 or more yards from scrimmage in their first two seasons dating back to 1960. Abner Haynes was the first Dallas 1000 yard rusher. However,it was the Dallas Texans who later became the Kansas City Chiefs.

If you were to include return yardage from kickoffs and punts then the clear winner would have been Gale Sayers, the best all purpose back in history.

Remember my disclaimers:

Different circumstances
Different skill sets
Different eras

 

[aria]

Who was the best runner or who was the best at the position of runningback?

From the perspective of value to the team and contribution to success, you can't rule out receiving and blocking. No way to evaluate blocking but let's look at total yards from scrimmage which includes receiving yards.

There is also no control by the RB as to how often the coach decides to call his name. Really, there is also no perfect way to compare RB's with different skill sets, different circumstances and different eras.

That doesn't prevent us from trying,so here are a few additional points to provide additional perspective:

Yards from scrimmage, first two seasons:

Rk Player YScm
1 Eric Dickerson 4456
2 Edgerrin James 4442
3 Chris Johnson 3997
4 Billy Sims 3812
5 Clinton Portis 3777
6 LaDainian Toml 3775
7 Ottis Anderson 3573
8 Barry Sanders 3536
9 Adrian Peterson 3494
10 Le'Veon Bell 3474
16 Ezekiel Elliott 3246
18 Herschel Walker 3180
29 Emmitt Smith 2986
30 Tony Dorsett 2983

Yards Per Touch, first two seasons:

Rk Player YPT
1 Herschel Walker 6.4
2 Clinton Portis 6.0
3 Barry Sanders 5.9
4 Abner Haynes 5.9
5 Gale Sayers 5.8
6 Charley Taylor 5.8
7 Ray Rice 5.8
8 Chris Johnson 5.7
9 David Johnson 5.7
10 Frank Gore 5.7
21 Tony Dorsett 5.3
26 Ezekiel Elliott 5.2
70 Emmitt Smith 4.4

This list was made from all RB's with 2000 or more yards from scrimmage in their first two seasons dating back to 1960. Abner Haynes was the first Dallas 1000 yard rusher. However,it was the Dallas Texans who later became the Kansas City Chiefs.

If you were to include return yardage from kickoffs and punts then the clear winner would have been Gale Sayers, the best all purpose back in history.

Remember my disclaimers:

Different circumstances
Different skill sets
Different eras

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[SoupcanSam]

Landry stubbornly didn't play Dorsett much his rookie year. They also didn't use Emmitt much his rookie year on a team just finding its way.

Zeke, on the other hand, inherited the best offensive line in football, and they gave him a full load from Day 1.

Zeke inherited a bunch of idiots on a coaching staff that needed his talent right away to hide their flaws and bring them back to entry level relevance.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

You’re right. And Zeke I believe was held out of the last game his rookie year.

Not only that he barely took any second quarter rushes as Morris came in most every second quarter. On top of that week 16 against Detroit Zeke didn't hardly run at all in the 2nd half. With all the time together I would say he had 8-9 games he didn't play

 

[plasticman]

To be honest, Zeke is a better receiver, better blocker, and has better vision than Bo had.

He reminds me because of the combination of power and speed.

Got to agree, Bo was a superior athlete who played football but Zeke was committed to being a great football player and that is exactly what he is.

Some guys have amazing athletic gifts, like Bo and Herschel, and combine them with hard work to be great. Not to say he isn't gifted as well, but Zeke is an instinctive running back who also works hard.

I always allude to the hard work because I don't want to underestimate the fact that many are born gifted but the truly great must still combine those gifts with a commitment to maximizing them through hard work.

 

[Thomas82]

Fair enough, we simply disagree

For anyone else who might be looking at it like I am:

In the 1977 the regular season was 14 games plus the Cowboys won the super bowl so they played 17 games

In 78, the regular season switched to 16 games and the cowboys made the super bowl again playing 19 games total

So depending upon how you look at it, Dorsett played or had the opportunity to play in 30 or 36 games

For Dickerson, he had 16 regular season games and 2 playoff games in his rookie year of 1983.
In 1984, he had 16 regular season games and 1 playoff game. So 32 games or 35 if playoffs are included.

For Zeke, he played in 16 games his rookie year plus 1 playoff game, then 10 games his second year since he was suspended 6 for a total of 26 or 27 games in his first 2 years

If only regular season games were considered for the comparison, then

Dorsett had 2,332 yards over a possible 30 games
Dickerson had 2771 yards over a possible 32 games
Zeke had 2614 yards over a possible 26 games
Emmitt had 2500 yards over a possible 32 games

Taking the number of games into account makes Zekes numbers more impressive imo

I didn't go so far as to look and see if each RB played in all the regular season games each year which would change how this data could be interpreted

Bottom line is Zeke is clearly in good company and considering the number of games he was able to accumulate his yards, he appears to have surpassed them all.

Good post!!