Dallas Cowboys: 5 players whose stock is on the rise
By Reid Hanson
Dallas Cowboys Player Report
Player No. 4: Zeke and Pollard
Stock Status: Blue Chip
What can we say about these two tailbacks? Ezekiel Elliott hasn’t looked this good since his rookie season and by all accounts Tony Pollard is performing every bit as good. Both runners are in the NFL’s top-10 in rushing yards. Teammates. Both in the top-10. How bizarre is that?
While much of their success can be attributed to the dominance of the offensive line, they are doing spectacular things themselves as well. Their yards after contact are at elite levels, indicating they aren’t just a product of the system.
Zeke is currently experience career highs in yards per carry (5.3; previous high was 5.1 in 2016) and yards after contact per attempt (3.41; previous high was 3.23 in 2019). #Cowboys
— John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 12, 2021
The Dallas Cowboys is a pick your poison kind of attack and right now a lot of teams are choosing to die at the hand of Zeke and TP. Will that change anytime soon? Sure. Some opponents can’t stomach getting shredded on the ground and will roll the dice with single man coverage if it means they can stack the box against these two (see also: the New England Patriots).
But we should all expect continued success from these halfbacks over the rest of the season. Dallas is still far more deadly through the air and are currently producing 10 TIMES the EPA on drop-backs than they are on runs. All investors should expect continued balance from this Dallas Cowboys offense in 2021.