College Football

Ezekiel Elliott: His Total Impact on the Dallas Cowboys

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:50 a.m. ET

Fansided, Charlie Lockhart/FanSided via Scarlet and Game

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hit a home run when he drafted Ezekiel Elliott.

When the Dallas Cowboys chose Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth pick in the NFL draft in April, many so-called experts thought it was a mistake. Dallas had needs on defense and could have filled one of them with the draft choice. However, by picking Elliott the Cowboys improved their defense as well as their offense.

Nothing helps a defense more than getting a breather while the offense moves the chains. Unless of course it’s going back out onto the field and the opposing offense has a long field to navigate because your offense flipped the field position. The way Zeke has run the football this season, the Cowboy defense has enjoyed both.

I speculated that Elliott would help the defense in an article I wrote back in early May:

This has led to a significant improvement in key defensive statistics from the 2015 season. The Cowboys have only improved in total defense from No 17 in the league to 12 but that is a little misleading, Often a team’s passing yards will be inflated somewhat because they are attempting to come back from a deficit and throwing the ball on nearly every down. That has been the case at times this season with the Cowboys in the lead.

Dallas has given up about 40 fewer yards rushing per game going from 22nd in the NFL last year to No. 1 at 81.5 yards a game this season. In the most important stat, scoring defense, the Cowboys have improved 12 spots to No. 4 in the NFL giving up 18. 6 points a game.

And what an impact Ezekiel Elliott has had on Dak Prescott. The quarterback is having one of the finest seasons a rookie signal caller has ever had.

Prescott is in the middle of the pack in passing yards and attempts but has made the most of his opportunities. The rookie QB has the fourth best pass completion percentage among players with 100 attempts and the third best passer rating in the NFL.

Prescott is averaging 8.05 yards per pass attempt which is third best in the league. Not taking anything away from the young man’s performance, but how much easier is it for him to have Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield?

More from Scarlet and Game

Elliott is a very good receiver coming out of the backfield and a terrific pass blocker. Also, the defense has to honor the running game as well as the pass especially in third and short situations. What a luxury for a young NFL quarterback to have.

And of course the master marketer, owner Jerry Jones, is having a field day with his rookie running back. One of my friends from southern Texas became a Cowboy fan the minute Zeke was drafted and ran out to buy his jersey the day it became available. I know she wasn’t alone.

With Elliott’s performance on the field as well as being an extremely charismatic young man, he is a marketer’s dream come true. He has even made one old guy pay attention to the Cowboys for the first time since Roger Staubach was slinging the football around in Dallas.

Ezekiel Elliott has had one of the finest rookie seasons a running back has ever had and has been a benefit to the entire Dallas Cowboys organization. There is still a lot of football yet to be played, but when everything is said and done, Zeke possibly will have had the most impactful season an NFL rookie has ever had.