OXNARD, Calif. — The Cowboys’ defense came back to bite the bullet with double-gap pressures.
Linebacker Eric Kendricks inched toward one of the gaps between the center and the guard, while a safety crept up from the backfield to attack the other.
Defender Micah Parsons stood behind them, ready to threaten.
The Cowboys offense hadn’t discussed this.
“What any team is going to want to do is block Micah,” quarterback Dak Prescott told Yahoo Sports. “But the fact that he didn’t have the ball and was in that position made things difficult for us.”
So Prescott asked three offensive linemen to keep an eye on five potential running backs. His offensive linemen weren’t the only ones who answered the call. Let running back Ezekiel Elliott take over the job of passing Parsons.
“What really makes it work is that Zeke is a pro,” Prescott said. “His guy goes, he follows him and he can follow Micah. Boom, I come up and throw the backside cut inside to Brandin Cooks right then.”
Success.
Running a play in training camp hardly guarantees regular-season success. But on that double A-gap pressure — a play Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has increasingly challenged the offense with during camp — Elliott performed a job that his quarterback was still praising a week and a half later, despite his complete absence from the stat line.
The fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft wasn’t blowing past defenders like he did in his early years. Elliott wasn’t finding space to penetrate like he did just two seasons ago, when he scored 12 touchdowns even as his efficiency declined.
But Elliott’s block allowed Prescott the extra seconds he needed to complete the pass. Elliott’s deep understanding of the nuances of his classmate Prescott and the game he’s entering his ninth year as a pro translated into getting to the right spot at the right time.
Dallas expects more of that as the season approaches.
While skepticism about Elliott’s explosiveness and perhaps his raw production is justified, the Cowboys view Elliott’s role in their ecosystem more favorably than the general public.
“Not every running back has that much football brainpower,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer told Yahoo Sports. “(Elliott) sees the game like a quarterback. He sees the big picture, which is really cool.
“The hard yards, the yards of effort, the four-minute offense? Don’t sleep on him. He still has a lot of work to do.”
IThe Cowboys and Zeke divorced and then remarried.
The Cowboys released Elliott before the 2023 season in an attempt to shed a costly contract that was arguably outdated relative to market value.
Elliott received a six-year, $90 million contract extension in 2019 after an absence similar to that of current wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. In his first season back, he continued to be tough, rushing for 1,357 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per carry in a season after leading the league in carries, rushing yards and total touches.
But soon, Elliott’s efficiency declined. From 2020 to 2022, Elliott averaged 4 yards per carry, compared to 5 as a rookie. He still scored a whopping 32 total touchdowns in three years, but in 2022 he attacked as a one-two punch alongside 2019 fourth-round draft pick Tony Pollard.
The Cowboys valued the opportunity to wear down defenses with Elliott’s power and then confuse defenders’ tackling angles with Pollard’s elusiveness. But after Pollard totaled 1,378 yards from scrimmage and 12 touchdowns, the Cowboys decided the more expensive Elliott was expendable.
Still, Dallas won 10 games, leading the league in points scored and ranking fifth in yards.
But Elliott’s absence was noticeable. The Cowboys’ rushing attack fell from ninth in 2022 to 14th and their rushing touchdowns from second to 15th.
A year after converting a league-high 71.43% of red zone trips, Dallas was successful on just 56.34% (14th) last season.
In New England, with a much less talented offense and offensive line, Elliott compiled 955 yards and five touchdowns from scrimmage.
So for a veteran’s minimum salary of $1.25 million, the Cowboys brought him back.
“Last year we were bad in the red zone,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told Yahoo Sports. “We weren’t at our best and Zeke has a nose for the ball. (So) I still think Zeke is going to have great success.”
To define Elliott’s success, you’ll have to take into account his assists.
Elliott will still be a factor in the ground game, but that may not be his most valuable role.
The Cowboys enter 2024 without a standout running back for the first time in Prescott’s nine seasons.
Elliott filled that role for six seasons, sharing it with Pollard in the seventh and passing it to Pollard in the eighth.
The Tennessee Titans gave Pollard a three-year, $24 million contract this spring, which was more expensive than the Cowboys were willing to pay. So Elliott will be among the Cowboys’ top two options along with Rico Dowdle, who rushed for a career-high 361 yards and two touchdowns last season, catching 17 more passes for 144 yards and two scores.
Dowdle, an undrafted product of South Carolina, did not start a game last season, playing just 22% of the offensive snaps.
Dallas is confident that the Elliott-Dowdle combination will be enough.
“We’re going to be a committee this year,” Schottenheimer said of the running backs. “I’m excited about that. I think that’s where the league is headed anyway.”
Teams are moving away from star running backs because of the perceived devaluation of the position on second contracts and the advent of analytics that highlight the efficiency of the passing game.
There, too, the Cowboys hope Elliott will help.
Don’t expect Elliott to feature too much in Prescott’s reads, with Lamb the Cowboys’ clear first option, followed by tight end Jake Ferguson, Cooks and promising receiver Jalen Tolbert.
Instead, think about the double-A gap pressure Prescott faced earlier in training camp. Elliott, he says, made that pass happen.
“As I talk about how my experience has made me better, his experience is making him better,” Prescott said. “Now, does he have the explosion he once had, does he have the quickness he once had? Not necessarily. But I think he’s better at surfing the wave and widening his gaps and then making his cut back to set up opponents. I feel like he’s better, and when you can do that, it’s all the same thing.
“That makes up for everything.”