The 11 Best Dallas Cowboys of the Past Decade (2010-2019)
By Reid Hanson
No. 11 Ezekiel Elliott, RB
Dallas Cowboys: 2016-present
Ezekiel Elliott, or Zeke, is a beast. Standing 6-foot 228lbs, he has plus hands, plus strength, plus elusiveness, plus pass-protection, and plus hair. Basically, he’s good in just about out all areas of the game.
As far as cumulative stats, it’s hard not to love Zeke. He’s topped 1000k rushing every season but one. And that lone season he didn’t, he missed six games and still came within 17 yards of 1000. It’s also worth noting, Zeke’s only missed one game of his career from injury making his durability another asset in his already long list of traits.
Fairly comparing one RB to another is one of the harder things to do in this league so it’s hard to determine how he stacks up against his peers (because yards per carry and total yards are terrible ways to determine whether a RB is good or not). While there are plenty of backs who break more tackles and avoid more tackles, not many can claim to be the complete player Zeke is. When he’s on the field defenses really don’t know what the Cowboys are planning. And that’s an extremely underrated quality in a RB.
While the offense shifted to be more of a passing offense than we’ve previously grown accustomed, Dallas still employs a run-heavy attack. Contrary to some misguided narratives, the Dallas Cowboys are not quick to abandon the run and actually stick with it more than the average NFL team. Only when the win probably drops to under 12% do they go more pass-happy than the rest of the league. Zeke’s a big reason why.
Zeke has been a difference maker since he joined the NFL and while the running game may not be as important as it once seemed, it’s a vital part of the offense and Zeke specifically deserves our praise.
You may not love his enormous contract but Zeke is clearly value-added on this team and he’s undeniably one of the best players on the Dallas Cowboys over the past decade.