Cowboys Zeke: Marketable, Flashy And Great
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IRVING (105.3 THE FAN) - The meme says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones likes players who have marketable flash. But Jerry doesn't single-handedly assemble the team's draft board. And marketable flash isn't the reason Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott was at or near the top of it.
And was made the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, coming to Dallas wearing No. 21 and armed with a goal:
"Let's go win the Super Bowl, Jerry!''
Elliott said to Jones in their congratulatory "secret audio'' phone call heard on 105.3 The Fan.
Elliott has flash. Elliott is marketable. But most of all: He's the guy, along with Florida State defensive back Jalen Ramsey, who held top spots on the Dallas draft board.
The Cowboys think Zeke is a do-it-all back and if you think that makes him a DeMarco Murray comparison, you should shoot higher. Murray — a good player who had a great year in 2014 before departing via free agency — never had Elliott's pedigree. Zee does the big things well — things that are marketable and flashy.
But he also does all the little things well, which you get when you hear Ohio State coach Urban Meyer called Elliott the best player he ever coached without the ball in his hands.
Of course, in Dallas, he'll have the ball in his hands. Twenty times a game, after he accelerates up the depth chart (beyond Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden and Lance Dunbar) to take his place alongside Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and this loaded offensive line.
"Let's go win the Super Bowl, Jerry!''? Being good enough to do that is truly the best path to being marketable and flashy.
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