In 2016, Ezekiel Elliott came to the Dallas Cowboys as their first-round draft pick, fourth overall, and helped lead the team back to the playoffs by running for 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was spectacular, but then an issue where a woman from college accused him of sexual assault crept up. Elliott denied all allegations and the police dropped all charges. However, the NFL doesn’t care if a player is guilty or innocent. They will suspend anyone for any reason – guilty or not – to make their own public image look pure as a result. After fighting the punishment, Elliott finally served the suspension and missed six games.

He still ran for 983 yards and seven touchdowns but it was too little, too late to help the Cowboys.

Elliott ready for 2018

Heading into his third season, Ezekiel Elliott is ready to take back over the spot as the NFL’s leading running back. With Dez Bryant gone, the Dallas Cowboys will need to rely a lot more on the running game and Elliott is ready to prove that he is the man to help lead the team back into the playoffs. Elliott showed up at the team’s voluntary OTAs last week and ran into the end zone after every single snap on the 11-on-11 drills – even if he didn’t have the ball.

Ezekiel Elliott said that he just wants to show the other players – especially those younger players trying to make the Dallas Cowboys team – how to work to become successful.

When asked about the struggles from 2017, head coach Jason Garrett said that would be distracting for any player, but he fought through it and proved he was as strong as ever when he returned to the field at the end of the season – even with the playoffs out of reach. After missing six games, Elliott still had the 10th most rushing yards in the NFL.

Cowboys running attack in 2018

The Dallas Cowboys will rely on Ezekiel Elliott to handle a large load this season. Last year, the Cowboys knew heading into the season that the suspension was possible and this year there is no concerns of that nature for the running back. Jerry Jones said that Elliott should look like he did as a rookie and that is what Dallas needs.

Ezekiel Elliott told ESPN that he is excited about this season and he has very high expectations for himself and the Dallas Cowboys. Even with the NFL Network dropping him from seventh to 54th in the best players of 2018 rankings, Elliott has no bitterness saying that it makes sense because he missed those six games last season. However, Elliott also said he knows how good he is and doesn’t need a top 100 list to provide any verification.
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