In 2014, Demarco Murray was the starting running back for the Dallas Cowboys and won the NFL rushing title with 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns. Despite his amazing performance, the Cowboys chose not to meet his contract requests and Murray left Dallas. Two years later, the Cowboys drafted Ezekiel Elliott in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft and he won the NFL rushing title with 1,631 yards with 15 touchdowns. Now, oddsmakers believe that the new Cowboys rushing star will battle their last rushing star for the NFL rushing title in 2017.
Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys
The current betting odds for Ezekiel Elliott in the 2017 NFL season are very positive. In 2016, he ran for over 1,600 yards and that was enough to win the NFL rushing title by over 300 yards. The next closest was just over 1,300 yards and the odds are in favor of Elliott breaking 1,500 yards again.
According to former NFL rushing superstar and NFL Hall of Fame member LaDainian Tomlinson, Ezekiel Elliott will win back-to-back rushing titles in 2017. Tomlinson said that the Dallas Cowboys offensive line is built for him to succeed and he can't bet against the Cowboys running back.
The betting odds also favor Ezekiel Elliott actually breaking 2,000 yards. While LeVeon Bell only ranked fifth last year, he missed four games and played well enough to challenge Elliott.
However, when looking at betting odds of hitting 2,000 yards this year, Elliott is at +1000 and LeVeon Bell is at +1400. Only seven players have rushed for over 2,000 yards in a season in NFL history, and only three running backs have run for over 2,000 yards since 2000.
DeMarco Murray and the Tennessee Titans
The year, after DeMarco Murray left the Dallas Cowboys, he had the worst season of his NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles.
However, Murray then went on to play for the Tennessee Titans and seemed revitalized. Murray finished third in the NFL in 2016 with 1,287 yards, and there are expectations that the Titans will be even better in 2017.
There are many names that oddsmakers like in 2017 for the rushing title. Other than DeMarco Murray and Ezekiel Elliott, names like LeSean McCoy, LeVeon Bell, Adrian Peterson, Jordan Howard, and David Johnson are contenders.
Johnson won the all-purpose yardage title in 2016 and should win it again this year thanks to his receiving skills. However, former Dallas Cowboys running backs Murray and Elliott will be at or near the top of the rankings this year.
