Elliott is starter, but Pollard has earned a role in offense
DALLAS — Tony Pollard wasn’t an every-down back in college at Memphis, where he touched the ball an average of six times a game from scrimmage.
And he’s never, ever going to be an every-down back with the Cowboys as long as Ezekiel Elliott is on the roster -- and he’s not going anywhere for at least two seasons.
That’s OK. Really, it is. This is not an either/or situation, although a lot of folks think it is, especially after Pollard’s terrific performance in Sunday’s 41-33 win over San Francisco.
Pollard had 69 yards rushing with two touchdowns and 63 yards receiving. He had a 30-yard reception and a gameclinching 40-yard touchdown run that displayed speed, acceleration, elusiveness and power in one scintillating 10-second burst.
None of that means the Cowboys need to bench Elliott, who missed the first game of his career Sunday with a calf injury.
He remains a quality runner and does all the dirty work too many people take for granted, whether it’s falling forward at the end of runs, finishing every run, converting short-yardage situations or handling blitzing linebackers.
Elliott brings a toughness to the position and offense that can’t be debated.
But he no longer brings an explosive element to the offense; Pollard does.
And that’s why coach Mike McCarthy and playcaller Kellen Moore must spend the last two games of this season and the entire offseason creating a real role and package for Pollard that utilizes his outrageous skill set.
No excuses. No alibis. Get it done.
In the process, they need to talk with Elliott and let him know that his days of carrying the ball 300 times a season and touching it more than 350 times are over because Pollard has earned the right to touch the ball
regularly.
Elliott is about winning, so he’ll accept that. Besides, he’s one of Pollard’s biggest fans. He respects Pollard’s ability, and that always makes change easier to accept.
This much we know: Put the ball in Pollard’s hands in space enough times and good things happen.
We saw it Sunday, when he took a simple pass in the flat and gained 30 yards by zigzagging along the sideline.
In just 87 carries this season, Pollard has four runs of more than 20 yards, including two of 40 or more. Elliott has one run of more than 40 yards since the start of the 2017 season, a span of 1,058 carries.
This season, Pollard averages a run of 10 or more yards every 8.7 carries, while Elliott averages one every 11.1 carries.
The reality is Elliott had 41 runs of 10-plus yards in 2018, 36 last season and 19 this season.
That downward trend matters because the NFL is about big plays. It’s too hard for NFL offenses to consistently drive the ball 75 yards for touchdowns; they need big plays to score points.
Add Pollard to Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb and Blake Jarwin next season and the Cowboys will be able to match any team -- even Kansas City -- in terms of explosiveness. Seriously.
Don’t forget, this team was averaging 32 points and 488 yards a game and Dak Prescott led the NFL in completions of more than 20 yards when he broke his ankle against the New York Giants in Week 5.
This can be one of the NFL’s best offenses next season, especially if Pollard is getting 12-14 touches a game — a figure he reached just once in the season’s first eight games and has hit just three times this season.
Crazy. McCarthy and Moore have seen what Pollard can do with opportunities.
Now they need to make it happen every week.