I don't buy this take. Teams are going to do whatever helps them win as many games as possible. Destroying players is not a smart tactic, and a team has never "ran a player into the ground" on the final year of their contract. Lots of teams use the fuck out of their RBs (Ex. Steelers), but that has nothing to do with what stage of their contract they're at. They do it regardless.
This exactly. He’s incredibly durable and a face of the franchise as far as our front office is concerned. Pollard just isn’t gonna get the volume barring injury.
I’ll take the discount on Zeke on a lot of my teams if I can get him as an RB2. If you take out week 1 last year vs bucs (one of the best run D), he was having a good start to the season from wk 2-6.
This is all you need to know. He was on one leg last year and they kept feeding him. If he’s playing there’s no way it changes this year. Love Zeke at his price.
All the reports I see talk about how much they're going out of their way to find a way to get Pollard on the field, even putting him out in the slot. If he were good enough to replace Zeke oytright they wouldn't be doing that, they'd just replace Zeke and put in Pollard. Obviously Zeke still has some legs. I'm not worried about him.
I really feel like a lot of ppl are overthinking this. Zeke was great the 1st few games til the injury. Last yr at this time ppl were talking about how good he looked in camp, how he had lost weight and how he seemed to be quicker. I remember when I saw the injury live I thought it was an ACL but he gutted it out and came back in. He literally played on one leg most of the yr and now everyone assumes he's washed. I'm buying the dip if he falls to me in the 3rd or 4th
He’s also the better pass blocker by far. They’ve got to protect Dak at all costs. He’ll be on the field all the time. I love Pollard, but really just as a top-priority Zeke handcuff.
I tore my pcl, and when it wasn’t anywhere near healed ran a 5:58 mile, not fast, but a pr since high school. It isn’t debilitating, just couldn’t squat to full depth, or bend the leg all the way. After 7 months I can finally touch my hamstring to my calf.
Yep. And Jerry Jones has been publicly saying in the media that Zeke has to be their star, and that Pollard can’t be taking Carrie’s at the expense of Zeke.
As a Cowboys fan i can assure Zeke wont get replaced. Even though Pollard was far and away the most efficent back, Zeke still got a bulk of the work. Zeke has immense RB1 upside as shown in the Philly and Carolina games.
Zeke was RB6 last year on a strained PCL. For those who don’t know, it is directly responsible for stability and burst - the exact thing everyone said he lacked last year, and he was RB6. He is much superior to Pollard as a blocker.
End-of-year rankings are largely an indication of who played the most games. It's critical to note that Zeke was 14th in PPG last year, and was much worse than that for most of the season.
Story as old as time. A super talented complimentary back has Reddit clamoring for those drooling NFL coaches to just give him touches, and is all shocked when they get less efficient
What matters here is both Elliot and Pollard will play A LOT. Both are fine. Elliot just needs more touches to produce where as Pollard is hyper efficient in both rushing and receiving. I envision a situation quite similar to AJ Dillon and A Jones in Green Bay. The Cowboys need playmakers outside of Ceedee Lamb, and Pollard is a playmaker. If it’s at RB or in the slot, etc they need him on the field.
0. Zeke is so underrated rn it’s absurd lol. He was insane to start last year and then fell off a bit as he played through a knee injury. His adp right now is way too low imo
Why would they replace Zeke before his contract is actually up? Pollard is extremely talented, but he’s a scat back. Zeke is their main RB, they chose to pay him over Amari Cooper, and if anything they’re just gonna run him into the ground before his contract expires
This year? I imagine they’ll run the brakes off Zeke unless he’s just completely sucking. After this year I’d be shocked if he stayed with the team on his current deal, barring a huge year from him. He was great, but Dallas ran him into the ground and should’ve never given him that crazy deal. Everyone said I was crazy when I said pay Dak before Zeke. Now everyone’s bitching about Zeke contract. But I’d feel confident with him as my 2. He should at worst be a mid range RB2 with fringe RB1 upside.
Not likely. He’s making way too much - and was productive despite a torn PCL. I think they’ll work Pollard in more but I think he’s pretty firmly the RB1 in Dallas.
The guy is a future HOFer that averages over 1000k a year.. he would need to lose a lot of steps before he would be outright replaced and even then he’s just gonna get traded if he’s that bad
Elliot has no upside. He’s a boring pick at RB2z Not saying don’t take him but consider that when looking at your team build. You want some boring players like him and Keenan Allen and you want some boom or bust guys like AJ Brown or Goedert
Yeah it’s true he’s not crazy exciting. I love Zeke but will probably take AJB & Sutton over him at the 2/3. Big time deep threat and big play guys. It’s just more fun to watch. People in here act like they play fantasy to feed their family. I play to make sundays better. Fucking auto draft teams kick ass all the time and most people are wrong in preseason anyways so just take the fun players you want and don’t listen to the nerds who think they can predict whether player A or player B are going to be the better pick based on super limited data points.
Worst case scenario (besides injury obviously) is a 1A 1B situation with him still being the 1A guy and that's absolute worst. Still worthwhile to have on your team
Longtime cowboy fan here. Zero chance he gets replaced as starter. We saw last year with a partial torn pcl he still started. They are gonna run him into the ground this year but their oline sucks so I wouldn’t expect old zeke production.
Zeke is a solid mid pick imo. I took him 2nd last year and wasnt overly disappointed, he's going to get his touches and yardsstill can break tackles with the best of them, and the cowboys will force the ball to him. his paycheck says there is a 0 percent chance of him being a Fullback
Not likely. He tore his pcl last year and still was the number 1 on the team. Jerry wants him out there because he got the money. Don’t let this sub trick you into thinking pollard is taking over for anything other than an injury
Barring injury there is a almost zero chance. Zeke was great last year before his injury and he is the soul of the Cowboys. Mike McCarthy works for Jerry Jones and Zeke isbone of Jerry's guys.
Pretty close to 0%. Jerry Jones and McCarthy are the type to stick to their expensive “feature” rb at the cost of youth and talent. They’re old heads that believe in that RB1. Tony will get work, and there’s every reason to believe he can get the same per game work as last season, but no way in HELL is he replacing Zeke aside from some disastrous level season from Zeke (fumbling multiple times per game, etc)
Why is this even a question? It’s quite obvious Zeke is the guy, pollard gets his touches, but there’s no difference from last year and the year before.
I get that pollard is good...but people talking about Zeke like he can't do it anymore....dude JUST TURNED 27! I get he handled a big load earlier on but even in a "down year" he get 1300 total yards and 12 tds???
Just with any starter, injury will let Pollard start. I do feel Pollard has the potential to have an Ekeler style rise. I believe he will be a starter, be it on the Cowboys or somewhere else. I do not believe this is the year barring injury.
The most concerning thing to me about Zeke is his Y/G have gone done every year since he’s been in the league. We’re on year 7 now. I don’t think he’s getting replaced in a contract year tho.
Of all the stacked teams in my league, with D'Andre Swift and Zeke on my roster... I fear the team with Jamal Williams and Tony Pollar on their bench the most.
All comparison metrics aside between Zeke and Pollard, with the news about Tyron Smith missing the year it’s even more of an argument to keep Zeke on the field. He’s the better pass blocker and I believe they have a rookie (not Tyler Smith) filling in for Dak’s blind spot at Left Tackle. They’re going to need all the help they can get in pass protection - this is why Zeke will play over Pollard always.
This is the last year of guaranteed money in his contract ($12.4-ish million). They are going to run him into the ground. If he holds up, it’ll buy him another year. If not, they can easily move on from him next year.
The Cowboys offensive line will be horrible and they will be losing a lot more games. The backs will split carries and none of them will have enough production to be viable in any fantasy league. Dak will have to throw the ball 50 times a game and will get tons of fantasy points until he gets injured from the beating he is going to take this season.
I think they will each get a minimum of 40% of the total RB touches, because I just can't envision Zeke getting outright benched, but if Pollard is overwhelmingly more efficient again he's going to get serious touches. If either of them get hurt the other is instantly a top 10 back at a minimum IMO.
The biggest thing is that even if he remains the starter, I saw him run up the back of RG/RT basically every single time last year. The power seems mostly gone and the elusiveness/hole-picking just doesn’t seem there. Night and day with Pollard.
dallas fan here. He won't. It's more likely that saquon ends up as RB1 in fantasy this year. Cowboys are gonna use him until the wheels fall off. They can get out from under his deal reasonably after this season, so expect heavy usage. Also the WR corps in Dallas is very uncertain, so it's gonna be a run heavy offense through at least the first few weeks until gallup returns, if not all season. Zeke has also shown a significant ability to play through injuries. I've usually gotten him as RB3 in my leagues and will use him as the flex, just because of the way the drafts have fallen, but I would be fine with taking him as RB2. He'll get you consistent numbers.
His profile pictures frightens me, and I don't want to have to click on his name and see that on Monday mornings when I read his write up for the week.
I don’t see Pollard taking the job outright. I do think Pollard will get more touches than in the past though and limit Zeke’s ceiling. Like 55-60% for Zeke is as high as I would estimate.
Unlikely they are paying him a fuckton they’ll run him into the ground to get their money’s worth. Pollard will still be solid af though.
I think it's partially because Zeke is a better blocker and can handle a heavy workload. Pollard may or may not excel with 20+ carries a game.
Tbf Pollard is also on his last year, so they can also run him into the ground as well.
Wasn’t there another RB they did this to? Number 29 in 2014?
I don't buy this take. Teams are going to do whatever helps them win as many games as possible. Destroying players is not a smart tactic, and a team has never "ran a player into the ground" on the final year of their contract. Lots of teams use the fuck out of their RBs (Ex. Steelers), but that has nothing to do with what stage of their contract they're at. They do it regardless.
The dude was a starter with a torn pcl. People are delusional if they think pollard will start over him
This exactly. He’s incredibly durable and a face of the franchise as far as our front office is concerned. Pollard just isn’t gonna get the volume barring injury.
I’ll take the discount on Zeke on a lot of my teams if I can get him as an RB2. If you take out week 1 last year vs bucs (one of the best run D), he was having a good start to the season from wk 2-6.
This is all you need to know. He was on one leg last year and they kept feeding him. If he’s playing there’s no way it changes this year. Love Zeke at his price.
Jerry Jones is giving Zeke a lot of money and Jerry is going to get his money’s worth
I’m a cowboys fan Pollard is getting some slot work all of camp so when Gallup is out so look out for that in the 1st month or so
All the reports I see talk about how much they're going out of their way to find a way to get Pollard on the field, even putting him out in the slot. If he were good enough to replace Zeke oytright they wouldn't be doing that, they'd just replace Zeke and put in Pollard. Obviously Zeke still has some legs. I'm not worried about him.
I really feel like a lot of ppl are overthinking this. Zeke was great the 1st few games til the injury. Last yr at this time ppl were talking about how good he looked in camp, how he had lost weight and how he seemed to be quicker. I remember when I saw the injury live I thought it was an ACL but he gutted it out and came back in. He literally played on one leg most of the yr and now everyone assumes he's washed. I'm buying the dip if he falls to me in the 3rd or 4th
He’s also the better pass blocker by far. They’ve got to protect Dak at all costs. He’ll be on the field all the time. I love Pollard, but really just as a top-priority Zeke handcuff.
I tore my pcl, and when it wasn’t anywhere near healed ran a 5:58 mile, not fast, but a pr since high school. It isn’t debilitating, just couldn’t squat to full depth, or bend the leg all the way. After 7 months I can finally touch my hamstring to my calf.
Yep. And Jerry Jones has been publicly saying in the media that Zeke has to be their star, and that Pollard can’t be taking Carrie’s at the expense of Zeke.
[удалено]
Replaced outright without injury I would say is minimal.
Zeke is an elite pass blocker, so he’ll stay on the field
Jerry Jones won't let it happen even if he underperforms.
As a Cowboys fan i can assure Zeke wont get replaced. Even though Pollard was far and away the most efficent back, Zeke still got a bulk of the work. Zeke has immense RB1 upside as shown in the Philly and Carolina games.
Zeke won't get replaced, but who is the better RB when it comes to their ADP?
Meh.
Zeke was RB6 last year on a strained PCL. For those who don’t know, it is directly responsible for stability and burst - the exact thing everyone said he lacked last year, and he was RB6. He is much superior to Pollard as a blocker.
If hes their in the 3rd hes a steal for flex!
He lacked it the previous year too
End-of-year rankings are largely an indication of who played the most games. It's critical to note that Zeke was 14th in PPG last year, and was much worse than that for most of the season.
Stop with this RB6 nonsense. In PPG he was RB15 in PPR, and RB14 in standard.
Pollard strikes me as a dude who as the rb1 will not be as efficient as people think
I've always had the same gut feeling about him.
He’s great on outside runs or surprise runs where has space. He’s not the guy you run up the gut
Story as old as time. A super talented complimentary back has Reddit clamoring for those drooling NFL coaches to just give him touches, and is all shocked when they get less efficient
The Bilal Powell effect
0.0% chance. People who think there's any chance are delusional.
Through God all things are possible so jot that down
Zeke dropped off skill wise
What matters here is both Elliot and Pollard will play A LOT. Both are fine. Elliot just needs more touches to produce where as Pollard is hyper efficient in both rushing and receiving. I envision a situation quite similar to AJ Dillon and A Jones in Green Bay. The Cowboys need playmakers outside of Ceedee Lamb, and Pollard is a playmaker. If it’s at RB or in the slot, etc they need him on the field.
He’s a #2 back this year for sure that still has #1 upside. He will not be replaced as in he moves down the depth chart. It’s just not happening
0. Zeke is so underrated rn it’s absurd lol. He was insane to start last year and then fell off a bit as he played through a knee injury. His adp right now is way too low imo
Will most likely be similar to last year. A timeshare with the team utilizing each RBs skillset
Not likely. He is one of the best in the league at pass protection, and will command a higher snap share than Pollard even if for that reason alone.
People keep saying that and it's not true. He's an average pass blocker. Except last year where it was terrible and worse than pollard
With the contract he has he’s either getting traded or cut right out before he gets dropped to the number 2
That’s next year though
0%. He was playing injured last year and will probably play the first 2 downs at least, with pollard playing maybe 3rd downs and some slot wr
Almost 0 percent. Pollard will probably see more time with the lack of receiving options but I think zeke is a fine RB2.
Not very likely without an injury.
I say highly unlikely unless the Cowboys are bad. If they suck they'll shut down Zeke and give Pollard the end of the season to prove himself
Doubtful, but his targets and carries may drop with an uptick in Pollard usage. But he will be the starter the whole year.
The touches are locked in if he can suit up and stay healthy. Pollard should be around 8-12 touches per game, maybe more if he's the hotter back.
Why would they replace Zeke before his contract is actually up? Pollard is extremely talented, but he’s a scat back. Zeke is their main RB, they chose to pay him over Amari Cooper, and if anything they’re just gonna run him into the ground before his contract expires
Outside of injury it’s not happening. Jerry is gonna get his money’s worth out of that contract, no matter how good Pollard is.
Mike McCarthy hates RBs.
This year? I imagine they’ll run the brakes off Zeke unless he’s just completely sucking. After this year I’d be shocked if he stayed with the team on his current deal, barring a huge year from him. He was great, but Dallas ran him into the ground and should’ve never given him that crazy deal. Everyone said I was crazy when I said pay Dak before Zeke. Now everyone’s bitching about Zeke contract. But I’d feel confident with him as my 2. He should at worst be a mid range RB2 with fringe RB1 upside.
None
Not happening
Apart from injury or if he develops a heavy fumble Problem i would say 0%.
I highly doubt it, the Cowboys are paying him a ton of money and he's finally healthy.
Very unlikely, Zeke is still RB1 for Cowboys
Cowboys fans know better than most that Zeke’s pass blocking chops will continue to see him as the starter for long as he’s able to play.
Not likely. He’s making way too much - and was productive despite a torn PCL. I think they’ll work Pollard in more but I think he’s pretty firmly the RB1 in Dallas.
Depends on if I drop him
The guy is a future HOFer that averages over 1000k a year.. he would need to lose a lot of steps before he would be outright replaced and even then he’s just gonna get traded if he’s that bad
It’s entirely possible it’s a 50/50 split with Pollard
As a cowboy fan I can tell you 100% it won’t be a 50/50 split
Anyone want to chime in about Singeltary versus Pollard or vice versa?
Elliot has no upside. He’s a boring pick at RB2z Not saying don’t take him but consider that when looking at your team build. You want some boring players like him and Keenan Allen and you want some boom or bust guys like AJ Brown or Goedert
Yeah it’s true he’s not crazy exciting. I love Zeke but will probably take AJB & Sutton over him at the 2/3. Big time deep threat and big play guys. It’s just more fun to watch. People in here act like they play fantasy to feed their family. I play to make sundays better. Fucking auto draft teams kick ass all the time and most people are wrong in preseason anyways so just take the fun players you want and don’t listen to the nerds who think they can predict whether player A or player B are going to be the better pick based on super limited data points.
Barring injury Pollard will be the main back by mid-season. Zeke is old and slower and contracts don't matter on Sunday, just who can produce.
That is 100% not true.
Contracts matter to Jerry Jones. Man lives on optics
Cowboys quite literally can't afford to demote him. Dudes making way too much $ for Jerry to be okay with making him rb2
Unless he gets hurt it's like 10%. They owe him so much money they kinda have to start him all year
Worst case scenario (besides injury obviously) is a 1A 1B situation with him still being the 1A guy and that's absolute worst. Still worthwhile to have on your team
Based on his salary, slim
Pollard is not the workhorse between the tackles back everyone wants him to be
I'm in Houston and will be nominating both Zeke and Pollard in auction hoping to drain peoples $. I have no clue, but not interested.
Longtime cowboy fan here. Zero chance he gets replaced as starter. We saw last year with a partial torn pcl he still started. They are gonna run him into the ground this year but their oline sucks so I wouldn’t expect old zeke production.
He’s not. He’s more likely to be run into the ground
Zeke is a solid mid pick imo. I took him 2nd last year and wasnt overly disappointed, he's going to get his touches and yardsstill can break tackles with the best of them, and the cowboys will force the ball to him. his paycheck says there is a 0 percent chance of him being a Fullback
Not likely I’m buying the dip in 2022 on Elliot. Finishes as an RB1 every year. Certainly a lot of risk this year but as a mid RB2 I’ll take the risk
I picked up zeke which I didn’t wanna do. Just pick up pollard as well if you have the means
0% unless he gets hurt
0% unless injury
If he is healthy there is a 0% chance.
Pollard is on my must draft list.
Not likely. He tore his pcl last year and still was the number 1 on the team. Jerry wants him out there because he got the money. Don’t let this sub trick you into thinking pollard is taking over for anything other than an injury
He’s gonna get injured bro he didn’t look that great last year.
Likely because he just hasn’t been the same ball carrier for 3 years..
Jurry loves Zeke and he is the defacto coach do no chance
I’ve been taking him 3rd round in every draft without a worry
Dont draft zeke hes done for after this year id be surprised to see him still playing
People are sleepin on him.
It’s gonna take an injury and if that happens, Pollard becomes a league winner.
Barring injury there is a almost zero chance. Zeke was great last year before his injury and he is the soul of the Cowboys. Mike McCarthy works for Jerry Jones and Zeke isbone of Jerry's guys.
He is the workhorse
100% unlikely.
Pretty close to 0%. Jerry Jones and McCarthy are the type to stick to their expensive “feature” rb at the cost of youth and talent. They’re old heads that believe in that RB1. Tony will get work, and there’s every reason to believe he can get the same per game work as last season, but no way in HELL is he replacing Zeke aside from some disastrous level season from Zeke (fumbling multiple times per game, etc)
I’m torn between someone like zeke or take a chance on an unproven but talented guy like ETN or hall
POLLARD. WILL. NEVER. BE. THE. STARTER.
Why is this even a question? It’s quite obvious Zeke is the guy, pollard gets his touches, but there’s no difference from last year and the year before.
highly unlikely.
I get that pollard is good...but people talking about Zeke like he can't do it anymore....dude JUST TURNED 27! I get he handled a big load earlier on but even in a "down year" he get 1300 total yards and 12 tds???
I think if he stays healthy he’ll be like James white
0% unless he’s too hurt to play. Next year if they draft someone he may be gone though
Lol
Not likely at all. People buying into pollard are going to be massively disappointed.
Zero percent
Pollard viable RB2 for Hero RB builds? or not enough volume/upside ?
Avoid him now Tyron smith just went down for maybe the year huge loss on that oline
Draft both
Expect alot of Pollard. the oline ain’t what it used to be. i think pollard will out target Z
About 0% chance
Highly unlikely
The man put up 1000/10, was an RB1, and top 20 in PPG, running on one leg last year.
Very
I see it kind of similar to the Packers RB situation. I could be wrong but I think they’ll both eat, and potentially both our score their ADP.
Just with any starter, injury will let Pollard start. I do feel Pollard has the potential to have an Ekeler style rise. I believe he will be a starter, be it on the Cowboys or somewhere else. I do not believe this is the year barring injury.
The most concerning thing to me about Zeke is his Y/G have gone done every year since he’s been in the league. We’re on year 7 now. I don’t think he’s getting replaced in a contract year tho.
Barring injury, 0%
Tyron Smith just got injured, he’s one of the main ingredients to ground attack.
Of all the stacked teams in my league, with D'Andre Swift and Zeke on my roster... I fear the team with Jamal Williams and Tony Pollar on their bench the most.
Tyron smith done for the yr
Barring injury like 3%
If Jerry jones has anything to do with it…. Zero % lol.
Without injury, near 0.
Yup, his last year in Dallas they will use him, abuse him and pound him all they can.
From what i’ve seen and heard, he is going to get a lot more touches this year
All comparison metrics aside between Zeke and Pollard, with the news about Tyron Smith missing the year it’s even more of an argument to keep Zeke on the field. He’s the better pass blocker and I believe they have a rookie (not Tyler Smith) filling in for Dak’s blind spot at Left Tackle. They’re going to need all the help they can get in pass protection - this is why Zeke will play over Pollard always.
This is the last year of guaranteed money in his contract ($12.4-ish million). They are going to run him into the ground. If he holds up, it’ll buy him another year. If not, they can easily move on from him next year.
Pollard is a great back but doesn't seem to be a good workhorse. Even with constant injury zeke is still eclipsing 1k yard seasons.
If he doesn't get hurt they have no reason to replace him
The Cowboys offensive line will be horrible and they will be losing a lot more games. The backs will split carries and none of them will have enough production to be viable in any fantasy league. Dak will have to throw the ball 50 times a game and will get tons of fantasy points until he gets injured from the beating he is going to take this season.
Someone get this guy a puppers.
I see him as a rb 2. Pollard will be more of a WR little bit of Cordell Patterson
Zeke will be replaced end of the year. Look at his contact it says a lot about RBs. Zeke RB2 on my team yes please
He is an injury liability, but if he stays healthy he is a lock starter. Not so much if he goes down to injury.
I think they will each get a minimum of 40% of the total RB touches, because I just can't envision Zeke getting outright benched, but if Pollard is overwhelmingly more efficient again he's going to get serious touches. If either of them get hurt the other is instantly a top 10 back at a minimum IMO.
The biggest thing is that even if he remains the starter, I saw him run up the back of RG/RT basically every single time last year. The power seems mostly gone and the elusiveness/hole-picking just doesn’t seem there. Night and day with Pollard.
Isn’t it common thinking that this will be his last year in Dallas?
dallas fan here. He won't. It's more likely that saquon ends up as RB1 in fantasy this year. Cowboys are gonna use him until the wheels fall off. They can get out from under his deal reasonably after this season, so expect heavy usage. Also the WR corps in Dallas is very uncertain, so it's gonna be a run heavy offense through at least the first few weeks until gallup returns, if not all season. Zeke has also shown a significant ability to play through injuries. I've usually gotten him as RB3 in my leagues and will use him as the flex, just because of the way the drafts have fallen, but I would be fine with taking him as RB2. He'll get you consistent numbers.
His profile pictures frightens me, and I don't want to have to click on his name and see that on Monday mornings when I read his write up for the week.
Zeke is overrated. He should already be replaced
Zeke has been ass for years. My vote is very likely.
Zero
I don’t see Pollard taking the job outright. I do think Pollard will get more touches than in the past though and limit Zeke’s ceiling. Like 55-60% for Zeke is as high as I would estimate.