Apart from the crucial contract extension of Dak Prescott, the most pressing matter to address for the Dallas Cowboys in preseason was their running game. While they did sign veteran Ezekiel Elliott, his lack of game time has baffled many including Shannon Sharpe who joked that even a retired and ‘light-weight’ Cam Newton is better than whoever Dallas has at RB currently.
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In the latest edition of “First Take”, Shannon Sharpe expressed his bafflement at the running back situation in Dallas. What didn’t make sense for Shannon was giving up the opportunity to sign one of the best runners, Derrick Henry.
For the NFL legend, this also signified a confused coaching strategy. Sharpe noted that top NFL teams like KC Chiefs make their QB’s life easy by running the football. The Cowboys do the reverse which not only adds more pressure on Dak but creates an overall sense of confusion in players.
“If you look at Patrick Mahomes, what does Andy Reid do? He runs the football. Even with Patrick Mahomes, you look at the best teams, they run the football to take a lot of the pressure off. The quarterback in Dallas does it in reverse. They want to throw the football,” Shannon stated.
Shannon found this situation at Dallas so pathetic that he joked on the show that if Cam Newton drops 15 pounds, he will do a better job than what Ezekiel & Co. are doing right now. “Cam, you drop 15 pounds, they put you at running back, you can do better than what [Dallas] got,” Sharpe claimed.
What’s worse about this whole situation is that Ezekiel Elliott reportedly isn’t too happy with the coaches at Dallas.
Reports: Ezekiel Elliott “dumbfounded” by Cowboys’ running strategy
As per a report from Clarence Hill of DLLS Sports, Ezekiel Elliott has expressed his bafflement to coaches about the lack of clarity regarding his role in the unit and “lack of opportunities as a red zone back”. The OSU alum is surprised to see himself starting one time in the five games that the Cowboys have played so far.
While it’s understandable why Elliott is frustrated, it also has to be acknowledged that he has been on a decline over the years. A macroscopic look at his stats reveals that the RB’s yards-per-carry have gone down in the last three seasons (from 4.3 in 2021 to 3.3 in 2024). His struggles at New England were also quite glaring last year.
That said, the Cowboys need to find a solution quickly to their RB problem. They are currently ranked second last in average rushing yards [82] and for a team that aims to win the Super Bowl, this stat is very concerning.
