Riding the Zeke train is Cowboys’ ticket to contention
There’s proof in the sauce that taking a running back in the first round is risky, considering the position has the shortest average life span of 2.57 years. With that in mind, more than a few out in the sea of draft graders and examiners have given the Cowboys’ brass two thumbs down for drafting extremely talented Ohio State prospect Ezekiel Elliott with their premium fourth overall pick.
You can delve into the past two decades and find three backs, Ronnie Brown (second overall pick of ’05 draft by Dolphins), Trent Richardson (third overall pick of ’12 draft by Browns), and Reggie Bush (second overall pick of ’06 draft by Saints), who were picked higher then Elliott and never reached the level of expectations of becoming a bonafide runner.
However, we need to look deeper on why Brown, Bush and Richardson haven’t fully excelled. Although Brown found some success under former Dolphins offensive coordinator Dan Henning when implemented in the wildcat in ’08, he regularly played in inept offenses. Bush on the other hand has been plagued with injuries, but when healthy, the current free agent scat-back has been a threat out of the backfield in the passing game – mostly in his five seasons (’06-to-’10) with the Saints. Richardson’s rookie campaign wasn’t too shabby – he produced 1,317 total yards (950 rushing and 367 receiving) and scored 12 total touchdowns (11 of them scored on the ground) for an organization that’s been down in the dumps with inadequate quarterbacks.
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Following his first season, Richardson was traded to the Colts, who were looking to give young-slinging quarterback Andrew Luck a back to team up with, but the former Alabama star turned out to be a bad fit for the Colts’ high octane offense that leans heavily on their aerial attack. After being released by the Colts and signed by the Raiders last year in March, and then released by the Raiders in the summer, Richardson was out in the street without anyone to play for last season. Now the 25 year old is looking to revive himself with the Ravens, who signed Richardson last month. Richardson has had issues with vision on reading cutback lanes to hit the hole, but sometimes it’s what the player is surrounded by (coaching/system/talent) that can either make or break careers.
Here’s a good example: DeMarco Murray ran for 1,845 yards, setting a franchise single-season rushing record for the Cowboys two seasons ago behind stout run blockers in a zone based running scheme. Last year, Murray fell 1,143 yards shy of what he produced the previous season with the Cowboys in former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly’s system that uses more east-to-west running concepts – unlike the downhill, one-cut lanes that fitted Murray’s style of running with the Cowboys.
What about small framed Justin Forsett, who was nothing more than a complementary back in his first six seasons before signing with the Ravens in the spring of ’14? The Ravens hired former Texans head coach Gary Kubiak that same year to install his zone blocking scheme that Forsett played in when he spelled Kubiak’s lead back Arian Foster in ’12. With Familiarity of Kubiak’s scheme, Forsett thrived behind an offensive line that exhibited well executed blocks with Pro Bowl guard Marshall Yanda anchoring the O-line for Forsett, who ran for 1,266 yards in his lone Pro Bowl season, which gave the Ravens’ offense balance and the luxury of setting up the play-action pass for quarterback Joe Flacco – propelling the Ravens to a wild card playoff berth.
If health doesn’t doom the Cowboys with catastrophic injuries they suffered last season – and their investment in Elliott, who has everything you want from runner (remarkable vision to read cutback lanes, speed, gain yards after contact, ability to create his own space, grinder between the tackles, gets outside the tackles with quickness, home run threat in the open field, receiving skills, and able to block on passing downs) – handing the keys over to Zeke to be the focal part of a run-first oriented offense gives the Cowboys’ historic franchise hope that the former Buckeye can follow the same footsteps of Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith – two legendary Cowboy backs that helped the Cowboys capture the Lombardi Trophy.
The Cowboys’ ground attack was effective last season without Romo and X receiver Dez Bryant missing lots of action, but with them back in the lineup and Zeke inserted – the bevy of eight to nine man boxes the offense faced last year will take a backseat. With Romo and Bryant back in the mix, opposing defensive coordinators will have to respect the play-action pass and fades to Bryant when the Cowboys are in striking distance. A once crippled passing attack will get back to stretching the field with Bryant drawing extra attention on the boundary.
Zeke, along with the addition of Alfred Morris, should improve the Cowboys’ short yardage woes and give them a boxer’s knockout punch to score on the ground when in the red-zone. The setup for the highly skilled rookie back can’t be any better to run behind All Pro right guard Zack Martin, Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick, All Pro tackle Tyron Smith, up and coming star left guard La’el Collins, and the oldest but still quality right tackle Doug Free.
Yes, taking Notre Dame standout linebacker Jaylon Smith with their second pick is a high risk/high reward with uncertainty of the nerve damage in his knee healing up – and yes, the brass could’ve selected Florida State DB Jalen Ramsey to kick things off and then used their 34th overall pick to take UCLA LB Myles Jack – giving them two multifaceted defensive talents with a world of potential to add playmakers on defense – but there’s also concern with Jack’s knee.
The Cowboys did address the defensive line by taking Maliek Collins, a three-tech in the third round and Charles Tapper, a quick edge rusher that fits defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli’s scheme to play right end. With Smith likely to be red shirted in ’16 and the rest of the defensive draft picks not fancy enough, it’s hard to think at the moment that the Cowboys’ defense can become a playmaking unit and improve from their dreadful production in the takeaway department.
At the same time, adding meat on the interior by signing Cedric Thornton and drafting Collins could give the Cowboys a better push inside, opening up the gaps for the linebackers shoot through while improving the outside rush – and though Demarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory are suspended for the first four games – let’s not forget that we saw an uptick in Lawrence’s game last season and that Gregory still has lots of upside to be special. Of course, that’s if both youngsters can keep their noses clean.
The outlook for the Cowboys’ chances to get back to at least the cusp of an NFC title appearance will ultimately hinge on Romo’s health, and if Zeke is the guy that can maximize it…all aboard the Zeke train.
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