Twitter: Zeke's declining yard average per year

[KJJ]

Some of his declining production is clearly due to the OL.

 

[maryquality]

We can say goodbye to Zeke getting 300+ carries as long as Kellen Moore is calling the plays. That's not the style he wants to play so Zeke is relegated to pass blocking 40-45 times a game and running it maybe 15. Whether people want to accept it or not, the fact that the OC wants to be a 70% passing offense is the main reason Zeke plays over Pollard not their contracts. Moore doesn't want to run the ball regardless of who is back there so if you're going to throw it 45-50 times a game the guy who is the better pass protector is the better choice. Especially when your line is struggling the way ours did last season. I will always come back to the fact that up until he got hurt Zeke was second in the NFL in rushing and averaging 5.5 yards per carry. And that was even WITH the line often not blocking worth a damn. But football is a merciless biatch so his body probably wasn't going to let him sustain that pace for 300 carries anyway so it is smart to mix in Pollard for 30-40% of the snaps. The problem is the more Pollard plays the more likely HE is likely to be and so is Dak.

Clearly I don't like the way Zeke is being used under Moore but I have no delusions it's going to change. So all I can do is hope the guys figure out how to make something great out of the horse bleep plays he sends in all too often. I'm not going to pile on Zeke for how he played after he got hurt. He clearly had no business out there and I will always maintain that everybody involved in making the call to keep him out there should be fired. Or at least docked some game checks.

Totally agree with this!!!

 

[quickccc]

Well when they run away from him the backside DE/OLB blows by him and runs the play down from the backside so it doesn't much matter if they run to his side or not. I do actually remember people complaining about Emmitt having "lost a step" as he entered the latter half of his career but he proved that if you gave him decent blocking he could still perform at a top 5-10 level.

After a certain age (and number of miles on the tires) a back simply isn't going to be able to put the team on his back for long stretches but great ones can still do it for a game or two or take over for a series or two every game.. I think Zeke is such a back.. His problem is that Moore isn't going to let him carry this team very often. I think we had a 3 game stretch last season where we NEVER called consecutive run plays.. I think it was like the Thanksgiving game, the Ratscum game and the Nawlins games.. I think there was an even longer stretch without three consecutive run plays. It's like Moore is scared to let the running game get off. Doesn't matter if they get 2 yards or 20.. the next three plays WILL be passes more often than not.

- Emmitt did eventually lose a step. Holes that were forming and developing, he just did not have the in-out of holes burst to get thru them.
Why did we think the Cowboys eventually had to cut their NFL's all time leading rusher after 13 seasons ? .. He just wasn't top 5-10 any more.

- It's just the working path of Father Time's schedule and stamp. Emmitt was aging, and many years of NFL pounding & toll eventually was taking a toll.

- There's only so much the OL can do .. vs when it comes a time where that starting RB himself has to be able to create too.

 

[bewp7]

if u give a rb a second contract let alone a market setting contract u diserve what u get

just hope jerry and stephen learn their lesson......haha!

 

[quickccc]

Some of his declining production is clearly due to the OL.

it is (the OL) .. no question, and it's not just affecting Zeke but also Pollard.
And it's not just the OL either, ..but some blame can be placed on the lack of blocking by the TEs ,as well as the questionable plays, schemes and usage by the coaching staff.

.. but yet when we see some plays where Pollard was just a slip or inch away from potentially breaking it away and big.
it placed me back to where we used to see the same initial burst from Zeke awhile back.

Such as that pitch out to Pollard and seeing him scamper for 60 yds TD untouched.
That reminded me of Zeke's 40-60 yrd untouched TD burst back in the days.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Zeke is washed.

Everyone knows it. He knows it. The coaches know it. Jerry knows it.

He is just another anchor on this team at this point and we should move on as quickly as possible. Oh, and NEVER draft another RB high!

You know you're washed when you post videos of you working out on speed and agility!!! Lol, things he lacks

 

[Coogiguy03]

If you haven’t noticed the decline then you don’t want to and probably never will.

Some still think he's a great runner and we need to focus our offense through him!! Yeah right!!

 

[KJJ]

it is (the OL) .. no question, and it's not just affecting Zeke but also Pollard.
And it's not just the OL either, ..but some blame can be placed on the lack of blocking by the TEs ,as well as the questionable plays, schemes and usage by the coaching staff.

.. but yet when we see some plays where Pollard was just a slip or inch away from potentially breaking it away and big.
it placed me back to where we used to see the same initial burst from Zeke awhile back.

Such as that pitch out to Pollard and seeing him scamper for 60 yds TD untouched.
That reminded me of Zeke's 40-60 yrd untouched TD burst back in the days.

Some of it is the OL and some of it is Zeke. He’s clearly not what he was. He’s basically a 3-12 yard push the pile back. He has little no burst and has trouble getting outside eluding defenders. However when Pollard isn’t scampering for 60 and a TD he’s struggling to gain yards himself. He had a number of games under 4 yards a carry. The biggest issue is the OL.

 

[Coogiguy03]

The 2021 season was the fourth 1,000-yard campaign for Elliott in six seasons. However, after two 100-yard performances and averaging 90.4 yards per game with five rushing touchdowns in the first five weeks, Elliott registered just 45.8 yards a contest in the last 12 games, and the reason why was because he played with a partially torn PCL for most of the season which was revealed after the Cowboys playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round.

He played injured, I will give him a certain amount of the benefit of the doubt. He will play this year and we will see

What's he going to do start off good like last year make people a believer then the same at the end of the season??

 

[Coogiguy03]

Has a ton of miles on him simply due to the way he runs/blocks. Mid 20s but the miles of someone in their 30s.

His break away speed / miss tackle ability is long gone however can still wear defenses down with his running style. With Pollard and Zeke there is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't be able to run through most teams even with the OL having medicore rush win rates.

The majority of the run problems is KM fault imo. We were doing fine in the beginning of the year but regressed back to JG 2.0 run game schemes

You're right on everything except the last paragraph. Do you think a player getting 2 yard gains will make you want to keep running, I think that was the thought process

 

[noshame]

ZEKE is lost a step since 2016. PERIOD
needs to be a short yardage/FB role.
Is the OL worse? Certainly . But Zeke is a half second slower.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Just get a new RB in round 2 and leave it at that

Amen

 

[jwooten15]

Giving in to Zeke's holdout demands has proven to be the worst signing in a long, long time. Even worse than Jaylon Gimp Smith.

Zeke leveraged his way to getting his money, and the Cowboys are paying dearly for it -- literally, and figuratively.

Just imagine had we let him walk, and we have a young RB here (with actual running ability, which Zeke no longer has) on a rookie contract... where else could that $90 million have been spent????

Thinking of this stuff just confirms how incompetent the Cowboys are as an organization.

 

[Doomsday101]

What's he going to do start off good like last year make people a believer then the same at the end of the season??

The guy had a torn PCL, all Zeke can do is get him self ready for the season and go out and produce. He made no excuses for his play and did not miss a game, he did as the team asked of him never creating waves. People claim Zeke is immature? lol , look around here, I see a lot of immaturity.

 

[Bobhaze]

- I thought Urban Meyer played other RBs to help share the load with Zeke at Ohio state. (ala Carlos Hyde)
But zeke was brutalized and workload pounded when Garrett got a hold of him at the NFL level- especially in 2018 when he only had
useless Rod Smith as a relief reserve.

- Just as we saw the wear and tear of guys like Larry Johnson, Chris Johnson, from coaches that were so bell cow depended on backs, we may likely
be seeing the same path with Zeke.

- Garrett regime seemed like they wanted Zeke to be Emmitt Smith like 2.0 pounding bell cow, ..bulked him up and beat him down.
Thus the burst he was noted for zipped- appeared. And even blitz- blocking as much as he does, it takes a toll on the body,.
. and he wasn't never the most overly elusive stop-restart miss guy.

- Opposing defenses do not fear Zeke anymore. They do not have to game plan for him anymore. They used to be frightened of his burst and home run speed- even on
quick RB screens passes. (ala Steelers/ Niners TDs) ..but this version lumbers. and he cannot explode in and out of holes as the 2016 version.

In his 3 yrs at Ohio State, Zeke had a whopping combined 650 touches; but 627 of those touches were his last two yrs. When you combine his college and NFL combined touches, he has 2,588 total touches.

That means for 9 straight football seasons, he has averaged nearly 300 touches per season between playing in the Big 10 and the NFL. That’s a lot of wear and tear on a young man’s body. I think he COULD be an effective situational back at this point. But we all know Jerry won’t allow that.

 

[Coogiguy03]

The guy had a torn PCL, all Zeke can do is get him self ready for the season and go out and produce. He made no excuses for his play and did not miss a game, he did as the team asked of him never creating waves. People claim Zeke is immature? lol , look around hear, I see a lot of immaturity.

Yes but did he force himself into games knowing he was hurt or demand to play knowing he was hurt???

 

[Doomsday101]

Yes but did he force himself into games knowing he was hurt or demand to play knowing he was hurt???

No he didn't, coaches and training staff can sit a player any time, so this crap of he forced his way into the games in non sense. I expect a player to do all he can to get into the game, I also expect the staff and trainers to say you can't go. I commend a player to do all he can to get into the game but I also expect others to sit him when they know he is hurt.

 

[BlueStar22]

Don't yall ever get tired of talking about Zeke and Dak? Have yall given yourselves a break from thinking about this team since the playoffs?

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

When I look at the formation Dallas is in, I know they are about to run. If I know this, then surely other teams know this. So the problem is more widespread than Zeke losing a step. Zeke ran a 4.4 coming out, so if he's lost a step then that's now a 4 5. There are still backs in this league that are being productive running a 4.5.

So on top of Zeke losing a step...Shultz can't block, Cooper couldn't block, the OL began to struggle, play calling sucked and Zeke was banged up. That's a perfect storm for a sub par season.

 

[Ranched]

In fairness to Elliott, the six-year, $90 million contract he signed in 2019 was always going to be difficult for him to vindicate. However, as his production has declined during the 2021 season, it is a deal that is looking more and more egregious.

Some of his declining production is clearly due to the OL.

Pollard doesn't have that problem. In fact, his numbers surpassed Elliott's last season in a fashionable way. And I wouldn't be surprised Pollard continues on doing so in 2022.