Assuming both guys are 100% healthy... outside of run fast, what does Tony Pollard do as a running back where he is unarguably better than Zeke Elliott?
Does he have better vision as a runner? Does he have better hands? Is he a better pass blocker? Can he get the tough yards better than Zeke?
No. I might concede the vision comparison but from what I've seen of Dallas, they are more apt to get Pollard the ball in space where he can actually use his vision while having Zeke use his power between the hashes because that plays to their respective strengths. I think Pollard is a hell of a player, and if he got the carries could cross 1000 yards no problem but the only thing he does better than Zeke FOR SURE is run fast.
I get that Dallas fans are
at Zeke because he's not producing as the top-1 back he was paid as, but he's top 10-15 in most every notable rushing category (yards, TD, yards per game, etc.) on a pass-first team, and that's while playing with a bum knee for several weeks along with a 60/40 workload split.
Look at it this way. By most accounts, I think it's fair to say Leonard Fournette is having a really good year, perhaps a career year. Look closer at the numbers and you'll see that a borderline career year for Lenny is a "down" year for Zeke Elliott (minus a few catches), and Lenny doesn't split carries or targets like Zeke does.
Other than pick up the blitz he does EVERYTHING better.
Dallas is not "apt" to get the ball to Pollard in space. He is just so much better in space than Zeke it looks that way.
Better hands than Zeke? When was the last time Zeke caught anything that wasn't a screen or a pass out of the flats?
Does Pollard get tough yards? Zeke doesn't get tough yards.
. Aint nothing tough about 14 carries for 40 something yards against backups
.
You guys talk about Zeke like it's 2018. It's not. You talking about Fournette and Zeke and their numbers but the difference between Fournette and Zeke is Fournette can actually rip off a 40 yard run and you know how many 20 yard runs Zeke has in going on 2 seasons. 2
.
Dude has no burst. He has no speed. He has no vision. If you are betting on Zeke running for 50 yards you losing that bet 50% of the time. If you betting on Zeke to get a 10 yard carry you losing that bet 90% of the time. If you betting on Zeke breaking a big screen pass you losing that bet 100% of the time. And you losing these bets while this dude is one of the highest paid running back in the leagues.
This Zeke and Dak thing is
to me. Dak plays bad and it is an army of posters on here saying he trash and he not elite and he getting paid 40 million dollars and we don't want any excuses he got to get it done and that's just that. Meanwhile Ezekiel Elliot can't even average 50 fukking rushing yards a game in his last 7 games, he literally cannot out perform a dude off the street with zero carries in a calendar year, and people in here like "but Tony Pollard not better than him though." And he out here getting more guaranteed money than any running back in the league. He out here making more than Derrick Henry.
. Even funnier is that Dak had two actual real injuries
Dude coming back from a season ending injury and came back from a calf injury in 3 weeks that had Gallup out for half the year but somehow all the heat is on him. People telling me Zeke hurt...I look at the cowboys injury report...I aint seem him on it yet
. And if he is hurt...how when he only got around 80 more carries than Pollard
. Somehow there is this narrative that Pollard isn't durable enough but the guy who is limping around on one leg in front of him is
.
When people talk about Zeke they always talk about how tough he is and how good of a teammate he is and how he knows the playbook front and back. But they don't ever say "man look how fast Zeke is." They don't ever say "don't let Zeke catch a screen cause he might take it to the house". People got it in they head Zeke is still this great player but in real life the cowboys got to the Saints 1 yard line and threw a fade to Michael Gallup
. I wonder if having a running back who can't get 50 yards a game WHILE everyone who isn't a down lineman is dropping back in coverage had anything to do with that playcall.
It's not that Zeke is not producing as top tier running back. It's that for 7 weeks he's barely producing at all
. Clements fresh off the street and don't know the playbook but cowboys just tossed him in there and he got 1 less yard than a dude they paying top tier money to
. "This is bad. This is very very bad
"
Then nikkas come at me like "why you hating on Zeke" like I'm a bad person cause I want the running back that plays for my team to do more than fall on the ground and "pick up the blitz". "But duckbutta Zeke is toughing it out he turning all these 1st and 10's into second and 8's what more do you want from him?" All these excuses for him are
