5 Plays the Dallas Cowboys Must Run With Ezekiel Elliott
Ezekiel Elliott has the look of a workhorse running back. Elliot could put up big numbers playing behind the best offensive line in football.
The Dallas Cowboys drafted Ezekiel Elliott fourth overall in April’s draft with the hope that he could develop into a workhorse running back similar to what they had in 2014 with DeMarco Murray. At 6’0″ and 225 pounds, Elliott has the size, speed and power to be a three down back.
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Elliot isn’t just a workhorse running back. He is also a terrific receiver and is great in pass protection. There is no question Elliott is an upgrade over veterans Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris but the Cowboys will take their time weening him into their offense.
It is important that the Cowboys develop a package of running plays that play to Elliott’s strength’s. Some of these runs may appear to be basic, but with an offensive line like the Cowboys, no running play is basic. They make them all work. Here are five running plays the Cowboys could develop with Elliott.
Power: Power is an old school, staple running play at all levels of football. Elliott has run this play both in high school and college. The difference is, he’s run it out of shotgun and pistol. With the Cowboys, he’ll run it out of the I-formation which will allow him to get a seven yard head start. Elliott runs square to the line of scrimmage and he is a one cut runner. He’ll excel on this play because he runs behind his pads and he’ll have Zack Martin leading the way.
Stretch: The Cowboys don’t utilize the pistol formation but look for them to run more pistol this season because of Elliott’s familiarity with it. He’s is a one-cut runner who does a good job of squaring up to the line of scrimmage and accelerating. His patience and vision will be put to good use on this play. The Cowboys like to run stretch so look for them to run it a fair amount with Elliott.
Inside Zone: Another staple running play for the Cowboys. Dallas ran a fair amount of inside zone out of 11 personnel with DeMarco Murray and they’ll do the same thing with Elliott. HIs balance, vision and power make him the ideal inside zone back.
Jab Power: Jab can either be a one back power play or a one back counter play depending on how teams run it. Elliott ran this play at Ohio State, but it was out of shotgun. The Cowboys primarily run it out of a one back formation and they are typically in 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs, 2 WRs) Look for Dallas to run jab with Elliott a lot. It is a man gap running play and he excels at fitting into blocking schemes.
Veer: Don’t be surprised if Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan utilizes some of the same concepts Ohio State used with his rookie runner. Elliott was effective on the veer play because he is square on the snap and he can get down hill. Obviously Tony Romo isn’t going to be a threat to pull the ball off of it but the Cowboys offensive line gets on defenders quickly enabling Elliott to hit the hole hard and push the pile.
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Many people criticized Jerry Jones for drafting Elliott but I think it was the right move. As Jones said in his justification of the pick, a strong running game will add balance to the offense and it’ll protect Tony Romo. It will also help the defense as well.
The Cowboys were the most balanced offense in the NFL in 2014. If they are going to get back to playing like that in 2016, they must get Elliott some carries early in camp and make him feel comfortable. The sooner they do, the better they’ll be.