Dallas Cowboys: ESPN says Saquon is better than Zeke?

New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley made ESPN’s best under-25 list over Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott. Say what?

The Dallas Cowboys make the headline news on a regular basis. Whether it’s because of a players’ suspensions or owner and general manage Jerry Jones hyping up America’s Team, this franchise will make the headlines.

But this time around, ESPN (the mothership of all sports networks) decided to grab headlines with its ridiculous lineup of best under-25 NFL players. There’s nothing wrong with having an imaginary and meaningless lineup of NFL players to pass time until the start of the NFL season.

However, there’s something beyond wrong when it’s as egregious as this. ESPN’s lineup is absolutely wrong and laughable on so many levels! (I screamed that in my Stephen A. Smith voice).

Because on this list, New York Giants rookie running back Saquon Barkely makes ESPN’s best under-25 lineup over Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Yep! You read it right. That’s not a misprint or a misquote, either.

ESPN really put the former Nittany Lions superstar in its under-25 lineup over All Pro running back Ezekiel Elliott. My initial thought was “you have to be kidding me! What in the hell are you smoking?”

It’s no joke, ESPN really believes Barkley is a better running back than Zeke.

Barkley came in second behind Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley. But I need to put this into perspective, so that you can have a better understanding of ESPN’s fallacy or dream team.

ESPN’s best under-25 lineup is a replica of an NFL team’s starting offense. With Houston Texans Deshaun Watson as the staring quarterback, Gurley and Barkley are the featured running backs in the back field. So if this were an actual game, Zeke is sitting on the bench while a rookie starts over him. Let that sink in for a minute.

I can see the looks on you all faces as you read that statement.

As talented as Barkley is, there is no rhyme or reason as to why he’s ahead of Zeke when he hasn’t played a single down in the NFL. Heck, the man hasn’t even played in a preseason game for anyone to give an informed and objective opinion about him starting over Zeke.

Besides, Zeke’s resume alone puts him ahead of Barkley, regardless if Zeke was suspended for 6 games last season.

Although Zeke missed six games in 2017, the versatile runner ran for 983 yards, scored seven touchdowns, averaged 4.1 yards a carry, caught 26 passes for 269 yards, and had 1,252 yards from scrimmage. The highlight of the year was when Zeke took a screen pass 72 yards to pay dirt (second year in a row Zeke has caught a screen pass and ran over 70 yards for a touchdown).

Some NFL running backs are happy to achieve those stats in a full season. That alone tells you how special Zeke is as a running back.

If not for the six game suspension, Zeke goes over 1,000 rushing and scores double digit touchdowns for the second year in a row.

In Zeke’s rookie season, he ran for 1,631 yards, scored 15 touchdowns, averaged 5.1 yards a carry, rushed for 108.7 yards a game, 322 carries, had 32 receptions (83 yard touchdown reception), and almost 2,000 yards from scrimmage (1994) in 15 games.