Zeke still fast

[SteveTheCowboy]

Zeke is still fast? Show me don't tell me. Be a difference-maker. The best thing Zeke has done lately is picking up blitzes; being a blocker.

Here he is out running defenses. And bashing in for scores.


You asked I showed. I suppose highlights don't count.

 

[quickccc]

I think people get too caught up in blaming Zeke for that which he cannot control. He can't call outside running plays for himself nor can he block the backside end or the playside inside backer for himself. Zeke has been doing what the Cowboys have been asking of him. About the middle of the 2020 season I came to the conclusion that Moore does not want that 2016-2018 version of Zeke in his offense.

He does not want a guy that totes it 20 times and catches another 3-5 times. He doesn't want to wear defenses down and he doesn't want to be bothered with devising good blocking schemes for the run game. None of that is Zeke's fault. The Cowboys signed him to a deal that warranted featuring him in the offense - to the tune of 300+ carries and 50-60 catches per season. Then they immediately handed the keys to the offense to a guy who doesn't have the patience to play that way.

As a result the Cowboys have IMHO wasted three prime years of Zeke's career.. when he could have been still tearing up the league and winning us games. Instead they turned him into a glorified fullback and told him to run it up the middle for most of his 12-15 carries a game and then told him to pass block 35-40 times a game. I 100% agree with those who say you could get that player cheaper. What I don't agree with is that that is all Zeke is capable of.

At this point I am hoping they do release him at the end of this season and he gets picked up by a team that values the run game and will give him the ball. Can you imagine what Shanahan would do with Zeke!?!? What would the Rams look like with a legit horse in the backfield? There are plenty of teams that would be downright scary if they could get even 90-95% of what Zeke was in the fold. But that's a conversation for another day. For at least one more year he's my favorite running back on my favorite team. As such I want him to friggin ball out!!!

- Tony Pollard is also caught up in the same predicament as Zeke in terms of misuse and something he cannot control.
But Zeke being physically limited, he is in fact, already adding even more to the limiting situation and predicament of our current coaches, particularly OC Kellen Moore.

- If there is nothing inside the tackles, by him losing burst that he once allowed him to easily make those kind of bounce out, off the edge plays, he cannot improvise.
Holes, lanes and TE blocks have to be that much more created for him, rather than his playmaking skills making those kind of plays on the move.

- For backs more limited, that makes your OL have to work that much harder to try to create openings.
For backs that can create big plays on the move, that makes it that much more easier for OL units.
Henry gets a certain crease or bounce out, ..boom ,,..gone ! .... Chubb with a certain crease or bounce out ... Boom.. he's gone !

- I do believe there are schemes and designs that can help feature what zeke does best (at this stage) ..while minimizing what he does not/no longer does.
As Voch Lombardi 's vid displayed , McCarthy's GB crew had some very intriguing designs in his one back and 2 back “ split-formation” sets that
made great use of their RBs, in both run game as well as pass game.

- But another problem that exist is we’re currently so limited by Kellen, and the Jones were so insistent on Kellen going totally solo when It came to the offense.
And despite some notions by a certain previous BTB article, all Kellen does and knows is right up the gut middle runs, (lets’ us know they peek in here)
..and Kellen just does not know/care about RB-screens, which would be deadly with one such as Pollard.

 

[G2]

Here he is out running defenses. And bashing in for scores.


You asked I showed. I suppose highlights don't count.

They count, they're just not the full story. I wish he could have been a threat the entire season, not just the first half. He should have rested his injury.

 

[blueblood70]

If pollard didn’t miss games from hang nails ave had to play every have like zeke, he’d lose speed too.

 

[RonnieT24]

- Tony Pollard is also caught up in the same predicament as Zeke in terms of misuse and something he cannot control.
But Zeke being physically limited, he is in fact, already adding even more to the limiting situation and predicament of our current coaches, particularly OC Kellen Moore.

- If there is nothing inside the tackles, by him losing burst that he once allowed him to easily make those kind of bounce out, off the edge plays, he cannot improvise.
Holes, lanes and TE blocks have to be that much more created for him, rather than his playmaking skills making those kind of plays on the move.

- For backs more limited, that makes your OL have to work that much harder to try to create openings.
For backs that can create big plays on the move, that makes it that much more easier for OL units.
Henry gets a certain crease or bounce out, ..boom ,,..gone ! .... Chubb with a certain crease or bounce out ... Boom.. he's gone !

- I do believe there are schemes and designs that can help feature what zeke does best (at this stage) ..while minimizing what he does not/no longer does.
As Voch Lombardi 's vid displayed , McCarthy's GB crew had some very intriguing designs in his one back and 2 back “ split-formation” sets that
made great use of their RBs, in both run game as well as pass game.

- But another problem that exist is we’re currently so limited by Kellen, and the Jones were so insistent on Kellen going totally solo when It came to the offense.
And despite some notions by a certain previous BTB article, all Kellen does and knows is right up the gut middle runs, (lets’ us know they peek in here)
..and Kellen just does not know/care about RB-screens, which would be deadly with one such as Pollard.

Yeah we agree that Moore is wasting Pollard just as much as he is wasting Zeke.. maybe more. I just don't know that Zeke is as limited as you say. Maybe he is but Henry had almost the same number of carries last season as Zeke did in half as many games. And I believe averaged the same or lower yards per carry. The difference in his situation as well as the one in Cleveland is that their lines block the run extremely well. Both Chubb and Henry get 3-4 runs a game when they are allowed to get to the second level untouched. Zeke has gotten maybe 3-4 such runs a season the last two years. Both he and Pollard are regularly met in the backfield. Our line simply does not block the run well anymore. And a lot of it is on the design of the run play. Way too many are of the stand still. wait for the handoff variety. Great for a scatback.. not so much for a big back like Zeke.. Then throw in the number of times we allow at least one defense unfettered access to our backfield and it's a wonder the running game ever gets going. And I imagine if we look closely at the games when the running game did accomplish anything it was either the opposing d-line sucking or the backs just going ham..

 

[blueblood70]

Sure.. burst is about explosion and rapid acceleration. Fast is just how fast you can run at top speed. Burst is how quickly you can get there. What made Zeke so dangerous in his early career was not only was he really fast at top speed but his burst enabled him to get to top speed before the defense even knew what hit 'em. My sense is that Zeke is as fast at top speed as he has ever been, but the toll of 6 years of NFL wars has taken some of the starch out of his acceleration. It just takes longer for the body to get clicking.

One other factor that is not really talked about is that Zeke himself pulled back some of that speed in order to pace himself in games. Accelerating to top speed in the blink of an eye takes a tremendous amount of energy. And the body only has so many of those in it before it shuts down. At the end of 2018 Zeke decided that he should try to pick his spots better. You're not going to take every carry to the house so burning energy like you think you are is going to lead to an empty tank by halftime followed by a lot of helmet tapping in the second half. So he has tried to run "smarter" these last few years. The biggest change was that he started seeking out contact more than ever. He stated himself that he wanted to "send a message to the defense and wear them down." But of course that only works if you're getting 20-25 carries in the game. This business of him getting 12-15 carries just isn't going to work with his strategy.

Ironically after losing 10 pounds last offseason and coming into 2021 he was quicker but unfortunately for him the line was in decline and Kellen Moore had concluded that "Yards are yards" and refused to make any effort to actually establish the running game. Other than the 4 game stretch after Jerry called him on the carpet for the 11 rushes between his two top backs in Tampa fiasco the running game was going to be an afterthought the rest of 2021. Which it was. The only time we ran it a lot was when we were blowing some sorry teams out. Any tight game or game where we were trailed or were not in complete control was going to be a 70/30 pass run split. It's the main reason why I cannot see this team as a deep playoff threat as long as he's calling the plays.

 

[blueblood70]

Emmitt had one run of over 70 yards his entire career. It didn't seem to impair him all that much. Football is far more about a bunch of 3,4 and 5 yard runs than it is 75 yarders. If a back can consistently get you 3-5 yards he's more valuable than a back who can hit an occasional home run but gets trapped for losses or no gain a lot. 80 yards on 15 carries at a consistent 3-5 yards a pop is more valuable to an offense than 80 yards on 10 carries with one 60 yard run and 9 runs of 2-3 yards or less. Yes the 60 yarder will make a nice highlight. and that guy will have the gaudier ypc average. But that guy's team be in 2nd and 3rd and long a lot more and will punt a lot more.

these fools dont understand this , they saw his contract as reason to expect the dude to be a superhero 24-7..lol ironically enough i guarantee college Zeke, 2016-2018 NFL Zeke, was much faster, quicker and elusive ie athletic than Smith ever was..now that hes regressed, hes now in line with what Emmitt brought physically. So they call zeke fat and slow but that was ES22 game..it was the OL , it was volume runs, it was wearing down defenses by sticking to the run. he wasn't racking up explosive big runs it was low YPC over and entire game ..

that was what zeke was until 19 when Moore took over and the offense changed and after 2020 when Dak got paid , AC got paid, lamb got drafted etc etc this all led to different offense..thats not zekes fault.

after year 6 Smith never had a YPC over 4.2 and 3 of his first 6 years he had under 4.3 i mean according to this place he would suck..

 

[G2]

these fools dont understand this , they saw his contract as reason to expect the dude to be a superhero 24-7..lol ironically enough i guarantee college Zeke, 2016-2018 NFL Zeke, was much faster, quicker and elusive ie athletic than Smith ever was..now that hes regressed, hes now in line with what Emmitt brought physically. So they call zeke fat and slow but that was ES22 game..it was the OL , it was volume runs, it was wearing down defenses by sticking to the run. he wasn't racking up explosive big runs it was low YPC over and entire game ..

that was what zeke was until 19 when Moore took over and the offense changed and after 2020 when Dak got paid , AC got paid, lamb got drafted etc etc this all led to different offense..thats not zekes fault.

after year 6 Smith never had a YPC over 4.2 and 3 of his first 6 years he had under 4.3 i mean according to this place he would suck..

No idea why anyone would insert Smith into the conversation. As far as RBs go, that's a whole other era, generation and system.
Elliott and Smith conversation can commence when Elliott plays for 9 more seasons and then we can talk about percentages and averages.
Better yet, let's just stop. The "Zeke is fat and slow" talk I admit is silly and useless, but so are the comparisons.

 

[mattjames2010]

He's an RB that has been in the league for 6 seasons with 1,650 carries and 3 seasons with 300+ carries. The fanboyism over an RB with a lot of wear and tear is just silly at this point. He is going to burn out and it's going to happen soon and he has rapidly been declining since 2019.

 

[quickccc]

I think people get too caught up in blaming Zeke for that which he cannot control. He can't call outside running plays for himself nor can he block the backside end or the playside inside backer for himself. Zeke has been doing what the Cowboys have been asking of him. About the middle of the 2020 season I came to the conclusion that Moore does not want that 2016-2018 version of Zeke in his offense.

He does not want a guy that totes it 20 times and catches another 3-5 times. He doesn't want to wear defenses down and he doesn't want to be bothered with devising good blocking schemes for the run game. None of that is Zeke's fault. The Cowboys signed him to a deal that warranted featuring him in the offense - to the tune of 300+ carries and 50-60 catches per season.

Then they immediately handed the keys to the offense to a guy who doesn't have the patience to play that way. As a result the Cowboys have IMHO wasted three prime years of Zeke's career.. when he could have been still tearing up the league and winning us games. Instead they turned him into a glorified fullback and told him to run it up the middle for most of his 12-15 carries a game and then told him to pass block 35-40 times a game. I 100% agree with those who say you could get that player cheaper. What I don't agree with is that that is all Zeke is capable of.

At this point I am hoping they do release him at the end of this season and he gets picked up by a team that values the run game and will give him the ball. Can you imagine what Shanahan would do with Zeke!?!? What would the Rams look like with a legit horse in the backfield? There are plenty of teams that would be downright scary if they could get even 90-95% of what Zeke was in the fold. But that's a conversation for another day. For at least one more year he's my favorite running back on my favorite team. As such I want him to friggin ball out!!!

- As with regards to “wear down defenses, ..and pound away and giving backs 330 carries/touches, 60 catches, plus blitz blocking 95% of the time
on an every game basis, I no longer believe in bell-cowing and wearing down my franchise back as such.
Not if i value him over a longer term path and career.

- These NFL coaches spend them up and wear down these backs up like this, -because it’s all they know (ala Jason Garrett)
before they eventually have to get rid of them, even if those backs are still not at tail end of their careers.
That's likely a lead reason why he's not what he used to be - even at just 26 years of age.
And I’ve seen it happened to those such as Shady McCoy, Chris Johnson, etc.

- Two things I definitely believe that i've changed when it comes to committing to RBs.
1) I’m no longer for drafting a RB in first round -unless my team is so truly convinced there’s a rare “generation “back, ala Bo Jackson
2) I’m not for bell-cowing these starting backs, and putting them to such tall tolling load. They have to have more relief-spell reps than that.

- Even with Shanahan, he didn’t place all of the brick load work in one in ATL Devontae Freeman bucket, he had complimentary backs coming in spell and relief
and producing - In those roles ala Tevin Coleman.
With Niners, he’s hosted several backs and successful – his scheme is designed for cutback lanes – it’s as RB friendly and schemed as any offense in the league.
Only problem Shanahan had – was himself, - didn’t want to commit to run the ball in 2nd half of two different SBs.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Pollard runs for 2 yards it’s “heeeeeehaw!!! See it’s all or nothing with him”

Zeke runs for 2 yards “People don’t appreciate a chain mover!!”

 

[quickccc]

Yeah we agree that Moore is wasting Pollard just as much as he is wasting Zeke.. maybe more. I just don't know that Zeke is as limited as you say. Maybe he is but Henry had almost the same number of carries last season as Zeke did in half as many games.

And I believe averaged the same or lower yards per carry. The difference in his situation as well as the one in Cleveland is that their lines block the run extremely well. Both Chubb and Henry get 3-4 runs a game when they are allowed to get to the second level untouched. Zeke has gotten maybe 3-4 such runs a season the last two years.

Both he and Pollard are regularly met in the backfield. Our line simply does not block the run well anymore. And a lot of it is on the design of the run play. Way too many are of the stand still. wait for the handoff variety. Great for a scatback.. not so much for a big back like Zeke..

Then throw in the number of times we allow at least one defense unfettered access to our backfield and it's a wonder the running game ever gets going. And I imagine if we look closely at the games when the running game did accomplish anything it was either the opposing d-line sucking or the backs just going ham..

The number of splash plays and big play plus runs are totally apple and oranges betwixt the Henry's, Chubb's vs Zeke,..

We'd like to hope the TE- edge blocking becomes a lot better than what we've had to endure the past years.
i'd like to think Cowboys organization is aware of that- as well as the overall OL unit. The departures and upgrades suggest a hope for player personnel upgrade
that we'll just have to see how that plays out. Supposedly the new emphasis in the trenches on being more physical- and we'll have to see if this
Joe Philibin/GB like zone block scheme is conducive to this OL unit, or if it's better suited to man-scheme.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

They count, they're just not the full story. I wish he could have been a threat the entire season, not just the first half. He should have rested his injury.

I agree about resting him. But not sure why we should hold HIM accountable for that.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Pollard runs for 2 yards it’s “heeeeeehaw!!! See it’s all or nothing with him”

Zeke runs for 2 yards “People don’t appreciate a chain mover!!”

Not sure that is exactly what happens but okay.

The opposite is a true then too. Pollard gets his big run...and people go A.S. how he should replace Zeke.

 

[Praxit]

....22 mph in underwear. Once you have gear on and mental exuberant as trinkets, it exponentially drops real fast.

 

[blueblood70]

Here he is out running defenses. And bashing in for scores.


You asked I showed. I suppose highlights don't count.

 

[blueblood70]

Zeke is still fast? Show me don't tell me. Be a difference-maker. The best thing Zeke has done lately is picking up blitzes; being a blocker.

we started off 6-1 because of Zeke and the run game that fact he gets 2 injuries and you guys have selective memory's..steve posted videos that not a slot fat washed up back..sure hes overpaid who cares so are most players. He was very zeke like until he fell on the pylon that played on one knee.

they aid those things last off season and the first 7 games or so it was actually true.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Not sure that is exactly what happens but okay.

The opposite is a true then too. Pollard gets his big run...and people go A.S. how he should replace Zeke.

It is true.

It’s also true that Zeke is no longer a dynamic playmaking RB.

 

[Typhus]

How dare you ...stop saying facts.

Im in agreement and good with a motivated Zeke actually having a crease to run through.
Call me a sucker, but Im betting Zeke would love getting an opportunity to hit an open lane.
If we get 3rd and 3 yard conversions with the running game, than Zeke will be valuable once again.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Im in agreement and good with a motivated Zeke actually having a crease to run through.
Call me a sucker, but Im betting Zeke would love getting an opportunity to hit an open lane.
If we get 3rd and 3 yard conversions with the running game, than Zeke will be valuable once again.

How many times did he have to sidestep right on the handoff. When your QB is tripping over the center's feet on a hand off play....you know there's an issue.