Getty Image / Michael Zagaris
The Dallas Cowboys finally gave Tony Pollard some more responsibility this season.
He entered into a timeshare with Ezekiel Elliott and took full advantage.
Despite him being the more effective running back and Ezekiel Elliott being much more expensive, it seems the Cowboys are still fully behind Zeke.
Today, Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones both said they want Zeke back for next season and Stephen even said he didn’t see a drop off from him this season.
Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones each said they want Zeke Elliott back. Stephen Jones said he didn't see a drop off with Elliott.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) February 1, 2023
I don’t know how anybody could have watched Ezekiel Elliott this season and come away thinking that there was no drop off.
Elliott had the lowest yardage total of his NFL career and didn’t look very good throughout the season.
To make the numbers even worse, Zeke averaged an awful 3.8 yards per carry. That put him outside of the top 35 running backs in the league in that category.
Meanwhile, Tony Pollard was much more impressive for the Cowboys this season.
Pollard racked up 1007 yards on a strong 5.2 yards per carry and looked much more explosive than Elliott throughout the year while playing behind the same offensive line.
Now the Cowboys need to pay Pollard, which will be kind of tough to do with how much money they already have invested at the position. It also doesn’t make much sense to pay Pollard what he has proven he’s worth if he’s just going to be splitting carries with Elliott.
Releasing Elliott may not be the answer, but they’ll at least need him to take a pay cut, which might be the easiest to sell to him when you keep claiming he’s still the same running back he has always been.
It’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to get realistic about their former star running back.