NFC Contender Reunites With Franchise Legend

Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys, Agree to Contract

The Patriots initially envisioned Elliott as a backup to spell Rhamondre Stevenson and offer fresh legs whenever the team needed them. Instead, we saw Elliott morph his game to become an efficient third-down back who can catch the ball well out of the backfield. Elliott recorded a career-high eight broken tackles on receptions this year, showing he still has the ability to make defenders miss once he has the ball in his hands. When Stevenson was lost for the season due to injury, Elliott became the workhorse back for the team; averaging 87% of the offensive snaps.

Elliott took the NFL by storm when he entered the league in 2016, winning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and being named first-team All-Pro. His rookie season is still currently his career-high in yards (1,631), yards per rush (5.1), and yards per reception (11.3). Those numbers ended up earning him six votes for league MVP as a rookie running back.

Unfortunately for Elliott, his yards per game has taken a step back in every single year since then. It wasn’t immediately a drastic fall though. He averaged an impressive 98.3 yards in his second year and a still commendable 95.6 in his third. In fact, his third season is when Elliott started to evolve his game. He set career highs in receiving yards, yards from scrimmage, and total touches, proving he could contribute more than just taking handoffs from the shotgun.

The Cowboys offense had started to evolve through Elliott’s time there. The focus was shifting to the passing game and Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott, was gaining recognition as one of the top signal-callers in the league. With the change in scheme, Elliott saw his role in the offense shrink with each passing offseason. In his final season with Dallas in 2022, he averaged just 58.4 yards a game and didn’t have the burst that fellow running back Tony Pollard had, so the team decided to move on.

Playing behind a battered and struggling offensive line, and getting virtually no help from the passing game, Elliott was one of the few bright spots on a bleak New England offense in 2023. He, no doubt, showed that he still has some left in the tank – the question is: how much?