Dallas Cowboys: 3 who stepped up, 3 who stepped down

Step Down: Ezekiel Elliott, RB

The Dallas Cowboys were known for having their offense operate through the run game and play-action passing. This season it appears as if coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore want quarterback Dak Prescott to throw the ball more.

This, in turn, is lowering the usage of star running back Ezekiel Elliott. To say his play has completely dropped off would be wrong, but he has taken a step back this season. Zeke continues to play well, just not as good as some may have expected.

He is averaging 4.5 yards per carry for 602 yards and six rushing touchdowns. That is a good stats line to have while keeping in mind how his usage has dropped.

He is averaging a career-low 19.3 rushing attempts per game. The next lowest would have been 20.9 rushing attempts per game last season. This is limiting the chances for Zeke to break away on a run.

Sure one less rushing attempt from his Pro Bowl year last year isn’t much, but combine that one less attempt with a 0.2 drop in yards per attempt and it takes a hit in his numbers. The 86.0 yards per game this season is a career-low and is a 9.6-yard drop from his next lowest.

The 9.6-yard drop over a 16 game season would mean 153.6 fewer yards. A step up, but still remains low, is Zeke’s 2.3 yards after contact and 5 broken tackles. His yards after contact ranks 15th in the league and his broken tackle total ranks 26th.

His averages are ranking amongst the middle of the pack, which is not where I would rank Zeke. One category Zeke is doing really well in is touchdowns. He has six so far, which has him on pace for 14 this season. That would be his second-most in a season.

Overall, Zeke really is not playing bad, he just isn’t playing great right now. Simply because he isn’t playing amongst the best in the league, I would have to give him a step-down. Expectations are just very high for him.