Breaking down the Dallas Cowboys running back depth chart
By Randy Gurzi
The Franchise Back: Ezekiel Elliott
After Joseph Randle proved to be too much trouble, the Dallas Cowboys turned to Darren McFadden in 2015. We already touched on his performance that season as he had 1,089 yards on the ground as well as 328 yards on 40 receptions.
While that was an incredibly respectable season for a player who hadn’t rushed for 1,000-yards since 2010, it wasn’t as good as the numbers made it seem. Dallas was without Tony Romo, who was injured, and defenses weren’t threatened by the offense. McFadden got a lot of yards but it didn’t result in wins and he had only three touchdowns on the year.
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In an effort to correct this issue, the Dallas brass added Ezekiel Elliott out of Ohio State with the No. 4 overall pick. He immediately made them look wise as the team was again without an injured Romo in 2016 but the offense kept rolling.
Zeke led the league with 1,631 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. Along with fellow rookie Dak Prescott, they led the Boys to a 13-3 record. Unfortunately, their success wasn’t repeated in 2017 as Elliott served a seven-game suspension and had 893 yards during a 9-7 campaign.
He was back at it this past year with his suspension behind him and once again led the NFL in yards with 1,434. However, he had just six touchdowns on the ground and three more through the air.
Elliott did develop more as a receiver in 2018, recording 77 receptions for 567 yards and three touchdowns. There’s no reason to think he won’t continue to get upwards of 300 touches this season as he looks for a back-to-back rushing crown.