With Dak Prescott officially set to undergo season-ending surgery on his hamstring, it’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to evaluate their roster and look ahead to 2025.
That is unfortunately wishful thinking with this front office. The continued usage of Ezekiel Elliott is all the proof you need.
The Elliott narrative has reached a boiling point over the last two weeks. He was benched in Week 9 after he missed a Friday meeting before Dallas’ game in Atlanta. This past Sunday, Elliott fumbled on the goal line against the Eagles with the Cowboys trailing 7-3.
While that was Zeke’s biggest gaffe in the game, Pro Football Focus’ John Owning cut up another Elliott run that definitively proves he should be cut from the roster.
New angle of Ezekiel Elliott run proves the Cowboys need to cut him
That was perfect execution by Dallas’ offensive line. Most starting running backs would have turned that into a touchdown, or at the very least a huge gain. As Owning notes, though, Elliott cut upfield. By the time he got back to the line of scrimmage, he only gained six yards.
Elliott had a cavalcade of blockers in front of him and chose not to follow. If you pause the above video at the three-second mark, you’ll see how much potential the play had. So often praised for his vision throughout his career, Zeke’s eyes led him astray in this case.
It’s almost as if Elliott knows he can’t make anyone miss in the open field anymore so he runs into contact. Regardless, this was another mistake from the 29-year-old and the latest evidence that he has no business being on the roster.
Even though the metrics show Elliott is one of the worst running backs in the NFL, the Cowboys keep going back to the well. And they’re doing so at the expense of Rico Dowdle, who ranks eighth (!) among all RBs this season with a 55.2% rushing success rate.
Dowdle has surpassed 15 carries in just one game this season. That can be attributed to Elliott averaging 6.75 carries per game.
There is a mountain of evidence that Elliott shouldn’t be eating into Dowdle’s workload. And yet, Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday that he’s seen positive things from Elliott and that the team “isn’t living in the past” with the two-time rushing champ.
Jones will simply not admit to being wrong about signing Zeke. Just like he won’t install curtains at AT&T STadium despite CeeDee Lamb’s plea. Just like Zeke wasn’t benched for his back-breaking fumble.
