Ezekiel Elliott has been hearing all types of criticism this offseason.
Last week alone Bleacher Report named him the Cowboys’ most overpaid player, while Madden’s ratings named him the fourth best back in the league. He’s been a hot topic of discussion lately, one which is amplified due to his expensive contract extension which he signed prior to last season.
Elliott has heard all the noise, and took to Twitter this morning to respond to it.
Almost 1800 scrimmage yards and 14 TD’s with no training camp and now im not the same back.
— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) July 16, 2020
Elliott is right that his counting numbers didn’t take much of a step back at all from his previous three seasons, but it also seemed at times that he lacked the burst he used to display back in 2016. Elliott has become a bit more of a bruising back and less of a big play creator in recent seasons. Still, though, he’s correct that he had no issues gaining yards or scoring touchdowns.
Women lie. Men lie. The stats don’t. Go do your homework.
— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) July 16, 2020
At the end of the day, I’m happy to see that Ezekiel Elliott has this chip on his shoulder. Between quarterback Dak Prescott failing to receive a longterm contract from the Cowboys, and the anonymous quotes about Amari Cooper being “held back” by something, this is shaping up to be a highly motivated Cowboys team come September.
And considering they are clearly a talented group, any extra motivation could go a long way in getting a chance to win that sixth Lombardi Trophy.
In reply to Zeke’s comment about stats: Give be a set of stats in just about any team sport and I can justify just about any conclusion on individual performance I want.
I would think $10M, $20M and $30M a year should be motivation enough.