Is Ezekiel running out of time with the Cowboys?
The comments may have been as innocuous as they sounded. The Dallas Cowboys could use one of their precious and few draft picks Friday or Saturday to seek a backup running back to Ezekiel Elliott for the 2019 season.
That’s mostly what Stephen Jones was saying at the club’s news conference this past week.
But when you step back and look at the big picture, at what’s going on in the National Football League and listen to the words of Jerry Jones that day about allocating money, you wonder exactly how many more years Zeke has to wear the star on his helmet.
I think the answer is more than two. It’s almost certainly not more than four.
If you think time moves fast, try being an NFL running back these days.
They are seen as the most expendable of commodities despite their importance on game day, and so if you see the Cowboys grabbing a running back Friday night in either the second or third round, the player might be more than someone to carry the ball in Oxnard.
Everything Zeke does on the field works in his favour for keeping him around.
He has led the league in rushing twice and, even with being suspended for six games in 2018, is the overall leading rusher the last three seasons.
He was the only back to carry the ball 300 times in 2018. He improved as a pass catcher and was used extensively in that capacity last season.
All those things speak to Zeke’s significance here. But so many things work against him on the outside, it’s all going to depend on where the Joneses are directing their attention.
For starters, Zeke led the NFL in rushing as a rookie in 2016. Chicago rookie Jordan Howard, taken four rounds after Zeke, finished second.
In 2017 when the Zeke suspension kept him from a rushing title, Kansas City rookie Kareem Hunt (a third-round pick) won it.
Last year when Zeke led the league in rushing once more, Giants rookie Saquon Barkley finished second. Cleveland’s second-round pick, Nick Chubb, and Denver’s undrafted rookie Phillip Lindsay also finished in the top 10.
The point: It may take receivers time to develop into All-Pros in the NFL, but rookie backs hit the ground running.
Now take the cases of Zeke’s contemporaries, Le’Veon Bell and Todd Gurley.
Bell, as you know, sat out last season after being franchised a second time by Pittsburgh. He is now a New York Jet.
The Steelers missed the playoffs last season, but it would be hard to conclude it was solely because of Bell’s absence.
Like Dallas, Pittsburgh maintains a powerful run-blocking line.
Without Bell, James Conner and Jaylen Samuels (third- and fifth-round picks respectively) ran for 1,229 yards and a
4.5 average. That was one year after Bell’s numbers were
1,291 and 4.0.
As for Gurley, who got a second contract from the Rams last summer, he helped LA get to a Super Bowl but a late-season injury slowed him. His only impactful playoff game came against the Cowboys.
It has been reported that Gurley has developed arthritis in his surgically repaired left knee. What that means for him as a dependable lead back in this league is completely unknown.
What’s known is that Gurley’s contract carries cap figures of $17.25 million and $13.2 million in 2020 and 2021 before the Rams can really even think about getting out of his deal.