Another running back?
Tony Pollard's selection in the NFL Draft brought confusion to much of Cowboys Nation. After all, they had their workhorse back in Ezekiel Elliott, and they haven't been the type of team to utilize a change of pace back since Elliott was brought in.
During Elliott's preseason holdout, Pollard carried the RB1 load. And he looked dang good doing so. Pollard was electric working with the starting offense, and had many wondering out loud if Dallas really needed to extend Elliott so early.
Of course, the Cowboys did decide to pay Zeke, leaving Pollard in the RB2 role for his rookie year. While his opportunities have been limited this season, Pollard has made the most of those he's gotten. And, to be honest, he's been even better than any of the preseason hype could have imagined.
Tony Pollard had the best game of his young career Sunday, going for 131 yards and a 44 yard touchdown which only further cemented the Cowboys' dominant victory.
Tony Pollard to the 🏡@TP__5 | #LARvsDAL pic.twitter.com/F50dgjlYYq
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 16, 2019
Pollard has only received double digit carries in three games, but he's eclipsed 100 yards rushing twice in those games. He also came up big against the Detroit Lions when he used primarily as a receiving back, going for 44 yards and a touchdown in that win.
Getting Tony Pollard sufficient touches is far from an easy task, especially when the Cowboys front office paid Ezekiel Elliott what they did in the offseason. Zeke is going to be the number one back in Dallas for the foreseeable future, and his presence alone will constantly bring pressure to the coaching staff to feed him the ball.
Anytime Dallas gets in a tough spot, Jason Garrett and company have one goal in mind: Feed Zeke.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering that Elliott can be as great as he was against the Rams some weeks. But it does signal that Pollard likely will never have a role large enough to match his talent level here in Dallas.
Now, maybe in the future he can reach the Alvin Kamara role with Elliott working as Mark Ingram, but I have my doubts under the current regime.
