Is Ezekiel Elliott set to be the best RB in Cowboys history?

Ezekiel Elliott

Ezekiel Elliott was a fourth overall pick from the 2016 NFL draft and has only played four seasons. Despite this, he has a very prominent presence in the NFL.

In a short amount of time, Zeke is a three-time Pro Bowler and a one-time first-team All-Pro. With that, he led the NFL in rushing yards twice and rushing yards per game three times.

Three seasons of 1,300+ rushing yards and two seasons of 10+ rushing touchdowns. Yeah, you can say defenders are tired of Zeke.

Many people like to discredit Zeke saying he isn’t effective as a receiver, yet he had 400+ receiving yards in ’18 and ’19. While that’s not a lot compared to other notable names around the league today, it is a solid contribution.

Much like Smith, Elliott is discredited because of a great offensive line. Despite that, he led the league in rushing yards after contact per rushing attempt from 2016 to 2018.

I find it amusing that a stat that eliminates the offensive line from the equation, has Zeke leading the way. It’s almost as if he is a good running back even though he has a good offensive line.

The Verdict

First, let’s look at Zeke compared to Walker and Murray, since the three of them have played around the same amount of time as a Cowboy. Murray played 53 games, Zeke played 56 games, and Walker played 49 games in his first stint and 32 games in his second stint.

Zeke leads the way in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, total yards, and total touchdowns. Walker leads the way for receiving yards by almost 1,000 yards, next to Zeke.

Just looking at the stats there, Elliott has quite the lead on everyone else. Then you can add in his accolades where he leads the trio in Pro Bowls but is tied with Murray for first-team All-Pros.

In terms of rushing yards per attempt, Murray leads the way, next to Zeke. Elliott then leads the way in average yards per game.

I think we are very safe to say that Ezekiel Elliott has surpassed both Walker and Murray, and is at the very least the third-best running back in Cowboys history right now. Let’s compare him to the two Hall of Famers Smith and Dorsett. I will compare their first four seasons to Zeke’s.

Zeke played the least amount of games with 56, compared to Smith and Dorsett who played 62 and 59 games respectively.

While Smith runs away with rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and total touchdowns, Zeke leads the way in everything else. Where Smith led, Zeke was second, and vise versa for rushing stats. Dorsett is at the bottom for total stats and rushing stats, but second in receiving stats.

Elliott is having a much more successful career this far compared to Dorsett as a rusher and a receiver. Elliott and Smith have very similar rushing stats, but Elliott is far ahead as a receiver.

Regarding accolades, Smith leads the way, but Zeke comes in at second. It’s hard to compete with four straight Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pros, and two Super Bowls.

Well, you can say that yes, Zeke is on pace to be the best running back in Cowboys history if you’re talking about stats. When bringing accolades into the conversation, Zeke is far behind, but Super Bowls are not determined by only running backs.

If Elliott can continue to have around 1,200 rushing yards for the next eight seasons with two being 1,500+ seasons, then he can be in the conversation. As a receiver, continuing with 300+ receiving yards will keep him well ahead of Smith. As far as winning Super Bowls, that’s out of his control.