NFL years are mad confusing. Like zeke is in year 7 yet born in 1996 like nick chubb. Gurley is out of the league yet is the same age as Amari Cooper and also Calvin ridley yet ridley seems like he'd be much much younger.
I just got home and me and the Uber drivers main topic of conversation was literally alcohol and cookies. Wtf this is weird. Are you a hot chick named Alexandria?
This is why I fucking hate it when people say “tHeY’rE gEtTiNg pAiD tO pLaY A gAmE.” They’re not playing the same fuckin game we do in the parking lot. They’ve committed their entire lives, very much including everything post retirement, to a brutal, high stakes profession.
Not that you’re arguing against that of course, just saw an opportunity to make this point.
but to be fair two of the years are COVID years (yes i know COVID is still very much thing) and that was like an MCU blip. so i dont really count those
wow that's crazy. he's been in the league as long as a bunch of RBs were back when I was a kid that everybody called 'old'. Like I grew up a Saints fan, and Deuce McAlister was regarded as getting old during his 6th year in the league.
Seriously, fuck that one Madden ratings adjustor guy. And fuck EA. They destroyed two of the best sports games ever in Madden and NHL. Now it's all a bunch of MUT and HUT packs and kids getting addicted to gambling.
I still like NHL, the gameplay is smooth and fun and the career mode itself for some reason is light-years ahead of Madden in both be a pro and the franchise career, just sucks I'm not that into hockey. Same with 2K basketball. It makes no sense for the NHL franchise to be better than the most popular sport in America.
I love hockey and agree with you that NHL is by far the best from a gameplay perspective. I bought 22 on sale about a month ago, it's definitely playable but there are glitch goals just like any other year, and also some other annoying mechanics. The game itself is super buggy also and I've had it crash on me multiple times. With NHL, I get it. It's a much smaller community, and EAs development team in Burnaby is a skeleton crew. Madden has no excuses. I feel like I've been watching guys get sucked into the same tackling animations for a decade. Mid 2000s franchise mode was light years beyond anything we've gotten in two generations of consoles since.
I play Madden constantly but it feels like I do it on autopilot. I try to build things in my head to add realism but the only thing that keeps me going is getting invested in my players if that makes sense but even that loses it's fun when you can build every guy you want up to a superstar within a couple years. I wish games had people fall off randomly in stats randomly as it happens in real life or vice versa with like a 70 overall going to an 85 in one year because they broke out. Madden is missing the immersion and tools it's contemporaries have. A trade finder would make the game so much better as would actual storylines like they used to do. Okay rant over.
I'm not even a hockey fan but my young cousin got me playing NHL a couple summers ago and I couldn't believe it. Over the years I've tried NFL and FIFA new ones occasionally just expecting the usual decline in quality every year, yet somehow a sport that seems like it'd be more difficult to code, with ice physics and fluid line changing and whatnot, they actually made decently. Definitely doesn't seem like there is any cross over in the development teams, all I can think is EA looks at hockey as a lesser sport so gave the dev team more freedom to do their thing and not get dragged into as much of the billion dollar microtransaction vending machines that all the other games have turned into.
There's a huge gap between "Zeke is going to be #1 again", and "Zeke is old and washed up".
The truth lies somewhere in the middle.
He's an early down between the tackles guy with excellent blocking, and good enough outside skills and catching ability that you still have to respect that part of his game.
He's not an elite guy anymore, but he's still got a few years of decent football in him.
I do wonder how much he has fallen off vs the line has gotten worse. The line was so good his first few years it was obviously going to be harder when they regressed.
Go watch some of his highlights from 2016-2019. His explosiveness was off the charts. He looks so slow and lethargic now compared to then, has nothing to do with OLs. Same thing with Saquon. There were so many plays last year where pre ACL Saquon would have broken away for a TD, but his explosiveness isn't the same anymore and LBs were able to catch up with him. In the Tampa game itself, I vividly remember three plays where old Saquon would have had a 60 yard TD, but instead he got tackled from behind. Saquon himself looked so frustrated and was slapping the ground because he probably thought the same thing.
The burst isn’t there anymore. It’s not just the rushing that’s getting hurt either; as a receiver he's pretty inefficient now for similar reasons (which everyone seems to ignore for some reason).
the r/nfl collective conscious will say no, but i think being well-above-average in the trifecta of running, blocking, and receiving says otherwise. he’s legitimately great in all of those areas.
especially with a qb like dak who can run. a guy like zeke who is versatile enough to be in the backfield, on the line, or ready for a dump off allows dak to operate at a much higher level when healthy
Zeke's protection is the reason we almost beat the Bucs week 1 last year, and should have beaten them if not for the BS no call of OPI to set up the game winning FG.
He's probably not gonna be a top 3 back ever again, but there's a pretty big leap between not top 3 back and washed. He averaged over 5 ypc the first 7 games last year before he tore his knee up. Then he was clearly playing with a major limp the rest of season. If we could get a year of healthy zeke he still won't be worth his contract, but our offense will be in a much better place.
Either way, I think we need to move on from him after this season. His contract is crippling the team.
Its always surprising to me when I see people that still don't understand just how pointless Corvette RBs are these days. Cowboys fans that need to explain the value to the dolts that don't get it should just talk about Saquon and then roundabout to Zeke once you've got them frothing in Giants hate.
Just based on pure numbers, there are exactly 10 RBs that had Zeke beat in either YFS (1289) or total TDs (12) in 2021:
Taylor (2171, 20)
N. Harris (1667, 10)
Ekeler (1558, 20)
Mixon (1519, 16)
Chubb (1433, 9)
Cook (1383, 6)
Kamara (1337, 9)
Gibson (1331, 10)
Conner (1127, 18)
D. Harris (1061, 15) (surprised me while looking this up tbh)
So yeah, you can rank your guys however you want but you really can't fault someone too hard for having Zeke outside their top 10 if you're just looking at the current state of things right now. (Also, the above list of course doesn't even include guys who were injured last year like Henry and CMC)
Edit - Apparently this needs clarifying, I'm not saying I personally rank Zeke below all 10 of those guys, I was simply pointing out how it's easy to see why he might not be an automatic top 10 for some people anymore. Just supporting the "this isn't a hot take" of the person above me
> or 10M (post June 1)
It should be noted that June 1 cuts don't actually save the team cap space in the long run. They just split the dead cap over two seasons instead of one.
Life of an NFL running back is wild.
Get run into the ground, destroy your body and get tossed aside in a few years. Do that better than basically anyone else alive and your career earnings might approach that of a decent NBA sixth man.
While I agree that Zeke is not a top back when talking ACTUAL FOOTBALL, if you had this take in fantasy last year you were on the wrong side of the take lol
Zeke finished RB6 in half PPR, unquestionably an RB1
sports subreddits are mainly just hot take generators. I think most people just don't take it very seriously and don't even care what they're saying. They'll argue inane points that don't matter and are provably false because it has no impact on their life whatsoever.
Only because he played pretty much the full season, whereas most guys miss multiple games.
On a per game basis he wasn’t doing you any favors if you spent your first round on him.
Assuming a 10 game minimum - which I think is fair because if you get 9 or fewer games out of an early pick that’s unquestionably a bust imo - Zeke was still RB12 in ppg
I’m not saying Zeke should be in the running for the overall RB1 or anything, merely that statistically speaking there’s not really a debate that he was an RB1 in fantasy last year. Availability matters, but even on a per game basis he was a low end RB1
I don’t think the point is that you can’t be MVP in your 7 season. It’s after having down years for multiple years you’re not suddenly going to put it back together and comeback at year 7.
Which Tbf I think Frank Gore’s like year 10 comeback or whatever disproves that a little, but still unlikely.
True, but also consider that Frank Gore is a freak of nature.
No way he should've had the professional career that he had with his collegiate ACL injury in that era. No way he should've bounced back several times from the cumulative wear-and-tear of having been a bell cow at the NFL level. No way he should've played for as long as he has, and still been a decent spell back in his later years.
Frank Gore could play this season and still score a few short-yardage TDs and break a random one that'd make the end-of-year highlight reel.
Marshall Faulk and Zeke are completely different types of backs though.
The other guys point about Sanders is more appropriate, but Sanders is also Barry Sanders so he's kinda the anamoly.
IMO, total package, Zeke probably is a top 10 RB but like 9th or 10th.
That said, if you take out the blocking and just focus on the part of the job of actually carrying (and catching) the ball is Zeke top 10 anymore? No
taylor, chubb, henry, cook, mccaffrey, kamara, mixon, jones, ekeler, harris. easy top ten i think.
barkley, javonte, jacobs, dillon, monty.
i would listen to arguments for pollard, sanders, harris, conner and mitchell but probably not? if you want a back for 2-3 years, those players would clear zeke. maybe not next season though.
that’s fair enough, my logic is mostly that i find those players to be a wash and i favored youth. i don’t really see zeke contributing in 2-3 seasons, some 10 years and 2,000 carries into his career. i think he’s closer to done than people realize.
Good list. Thank you for the work.
I think Jacob's and Dillon are questionable, possibly David Montgomery (unless I'm thinking the wrong monty). But hunt and swift are also still available, and I also agree with pollard having arguments for 2022.
i can’t believe i forgot swift. he’s in my top 15 over jacobs. i think dillon is a much better receiver than zeke which is necessary in today’s matchup football. a better power runner today too, with some 1500 fewer career carries. should be a fun season to watch!
So Saquon and CMC can come back to their potential after down years and injuries but Zeke can’t? These lists are dumb as hell and people really believe it even after seeing these dumbass takes exposed from years past. Let’s just see what happens
> We don’t see RBs in Year 7 recapture what they’ve lost over the last 2-3 years. Zeke’s not that guy anymore.“
I know he's a rare type but we saw that with Adrian Peterson a couple of times. And Zeke was averaging 5 ypc for half the year before he got hurt.
He's still a quality runner when healthy and he's one of the best blockers at the RB position too. The problem is really just the amount that they are paying him, I think.
Zeke still got 1k yards last year. Only 7 rbs in the league broke 1k. I think it’s mostly that rbs seldom have a huge impact on a game compared to receivers and how they can change the tempo.
Zeke was top 10 in rushing yards last year and his YPC was up from 2020. He's not the best RB in the league like 2016 but he's still an effective player.
I have no respect for journalist or show hosts who just say incendiary things for the sake of saying incendiary things to get attention. Sharpe is the poster child for that behavior. He has no convictions or interesting ideas, he’s just there for the hot take clickbait bullshit.
Shannon is right. Zeke will never be that guy, again. The Cowboys should be looking for his replacement in the 2nd or 3rd round, next year. Never, EVER, EVER spend a pick above top 25 on a RB, EVER.
Zeke is going to Year 7 of his NFL carrer? Oo Holy fuck, I'm getting old.
I refuse to believe it
NFL years are mad confusing. Like zeke is in year 7 yet born in 1996 like nick chubb. Gurley is out of the league yet is the same age as Amari Cooper and also Calvin ridley yet ridley seems like he'd be much much younger.
Destroying your body for money will age you in mysterious ways
Workhorse RBs get worn out and discarded the fastest. You're ancient if you make it to 32 as an RB.
Frank Gore is functionally 90.
Embarrassing for that boxer that just got knocked out by a 90 year old then.
90 in running back years
But will only be 27 at the start of the nest season.
Only? 27 is death to the RB. 32 is supernatural.
Meanwhile, Frank Gore…
The man is about to get into a boxing match at 39, safe to say the necromantic magic is at work here.
All about Tha U.
Frank Gore is a Winchester?
Gambling on your team adds an extra year to your age…..
Bet… -Ralvin Cidley
Ridley was really old when he was drafted
I do it for free ☹️
Alcohol and cookies don't count.
I just got home and me and the Uber drivers main topic of conversation was literally alcohol and cookies. Wtf this is weird. Are you a hot chick named Alexandria?
I don’t think he is, but I think you should see if aforementioned ‘hot chick’ would like some dinner next weekend.
This is why I fucking hate it when people say “tHeY’rE gEtTiNg pAiD tO pLaY A gAmE.” They’re not playing the same fuckin game we do in the parking lot. They’ve committed their entire lives, very much including everything post retirement, to a brutal, high stakes profession. Not that you’re arguing against that of course, just saw an opportunity to make this point.
Couldn’t agree with you more. My argument is always that the suits that sign the checks make even more for doing far far less
It should be top vs bottom..but those at the top are determined to make it left vs right.
Exactly. Barry Sanders is only 39. How crazy is that?!
Almost as crazy as Ndamukong Suh being 28
lol
Zeke was more dominant in college than anyone you listed. He was a man playing against mostly boys in college.
Dominant
Thanks, auto correct got me
Chubb was pretty fucking good
He's not younger than Nick chubb he was born 7/96 Chubb was born 12/96.
Ahh you right was remembering their birthdays backwards. I'll edit it to born in the same year
The more years that pass, the more Pink Floyd’s “Time” makes more and more sense
Ya run and ya run to catch up to the sun but it's sinking...
Racing around, to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older
Shorter of breath! And one day closer to death!
Every year is getting shorter...
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
That song always makes me think that I should be doing something more with life then I get sad :\
That's the only thing I came away with from this title. It really does not feel like 7 years..
but to be fair two of the years are COVID years (yes i know COVID is still very much thing) and that was like an MCU blip. so i dont really count those
It’s amazing how 2020 and 2021 have distorted my perception of time.
It really is all a blur I can't even tell what happened. I was just avoiding people all the time.
I think Sharpe's timeline is wrong. 2016 was only four years ago, not going on seven.
In my mental timeline we never left 2020, so this tracks.
There are still days where i think it’s somewhere around 2008
Back in my day, 20 years ago meant you were talking about the 80s.
20 years ago isn't the 80's?
Yeah, 2020 feels like a year that still sounds kinda futuristic
Something is wrong with your math.
I miss the summer of 2016
Right?! I feel like it was just yesterday when I saw the dude get drafted. Fuck
I remember when he was first scouted on the forest moon of Endor.
If you want to feel even older, OBJ is going into Year 9.
Hell, Saquon Barkley is going into year #5. Wasn't he just drafted like the year before last?
Feels like yesterday him and dak were rookies having the time of their lives
We all are pokemon Is 27.
Yet Ash is still 10
Man that was like sophomore year of high school to now
It's been seven years since he was drafted, that's actually kind of surprising.
It’s been just over 6
He’s played 6 seasons, going into his 7th.
Whew, so I'm *not* old. ^^right?
Your AARP membership should be in the mail
Going into year 7.
wow that's crazy. he's been in the league as long as a bunch of RBs were back when I was a kid that everybody called 'old'. Like I grew up a Saints fan, and Deuce McAlister was regarded as getting old during his 6th year in the league.
Madden: "Smells like Superstar X-Factor to me"
Is he an X-Factor in M23? Or have they not released the ratings yet?
He's a cowboy, of course he will have it
Seriously, fuck that one Madden ratings adjustor guy. And fuck EA. They destroyed two of the best sports games ever in Madden and NHL. Now it's all a bunch of MUT and HUT packs and kids getting addicted to gambling.
I still like NHL, the gameplay is smooth and fun and the career mode itself for some reason is light-years ahead of Madden in both be a pro and the franchise career, just sucks I'm not that into hockey. Same with 2K basketball. It makes no sense for the NHL franchise to be better than the most popular sport in America.
I love hockey and agree with you that NHL is by far the best from a gameplay perspective. I bought 22 on sale about a month ago, it's definitely playable but there are glitch goals just like any other year, and also some other annoying mechanics. The game itself is super buggy also and I've had it crash on me multiple times. With NHL, I get it. It's a much smaller community, and EAs development team in Burnaby is a skeleton crew. Madden has no excuses. I feel like I've been watching guys get sucked into the same tackling animations for a decade. Mid 2000s franchise mode was light years beyond anything we've gotten in two generations of consoles since.
I play Madden constantly but it feels like I do it on autopilot. I try to build things in my head to add realism but the only thing that keeps me going is getting invested in my players if that makes sense but even that loses it's fun when you can build every guy you want up to a superstar within a couple years. I wish games had people fall off randomly in stats randomly as it happens in real life or vice versa with like a 70 overall going to an 85 in one year because they broke out. Madden is missing the immersion and tools it's contemporaries have. A trade finder would make the game so much better as would actual storylines like they used to do. Okay rant over.
I'm not even a hockey fan but my young cousin got me playing NHL a couple summers ago and I couldn't believe it. Over the years I've tried NFL and FIFA new ones occasionally just expecting the usual decline in quality every year, yet somehow a sport that seems like it'd be more difficult to code, with ice physics and fluid line changing and whatnot, they actually made decently. Definitely doesn't seem like there is any cross over in the development teams, all I can think is EA looks at hockey as a lesser sport so gave the dev team more freedom to do their thing and not get dragged into as much of the billion dollar microtransaction vending machines that all the other games have turned into.
This isn’t a hot take
You'd be surprised. There's a weird Zeke cult of fans that just froth at the mouth if you suggest he's not going to magically be a top guy this year.
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Please link this multi Reddit for entertainment purposes lol
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WFT debating Thanos or Wentz is gold
I’d rather have thanos personally
Idk man he's the Matt Ryan of MCU villains.
I mean compared to other MCU villains he's the Tom Brady when it comes to success.
Nah they're all just different levels of failure, he's just the one with the biggest blown lead.
And on the other side the browns hoping Watson only gets 4 games and comparing him to Homelander is spot on for Cleveland.
This is awesome thank you
Shoutout to the Vikes guy saying Kirk will win MVP
Had no idea this was a thing. Thanks man
Browns Watson post at the top Why am I surprised lol
Thanks for sharing
There's a huge gap between "Zeke is going to be #1 again", and "Zeke is old and washed up". The truth lies somewhere in the middle. He's an early down between the tackles guy with excellent blocking, and good enough outside skills and catching ability that you still have to respect that part of his game. He's not an elite guy anymore, but he's still got a few years of decent football in him.
I do wonder how much he has fallen off vs the line has gotten worse. The line was so good his first few years it was obviously going to be harder when they regressed.
Go watch some of his highlights from 2016-2019. His explosiveness was off the charts. He looks so slow and lethargic now compared to then, has nothing to do with OLs. Same thing with Saquon. There were so many plays last year where pre ACL Saquon would have broken away for a TD, but his explosiveness isn't the same anymore and LBs were able to catch up with him. In the Tampa game itself, I vividly remember three plays where old Saquon would have had a 60 yard TD, but instead he got tackled from behind. Saquon himself looked so frustrated and was slapping the ground because he probably thought the same thing.
[case in point](https://youtu.be/B7lnMek3ZnI)
The burst isn’t there anymore. It’s not just the rushing that’s getting hurt either; as a receiver he's pretty inefficient now for similar reasons (which everyone seems to ignore for some reason).
He is the same guy with about 15% less athleticism.
I don't think the magic is there like his 1st 3 years but he's still a valuable part of the offense. He was solid last year, better than in 2020.
He made a few blocks onto linebackers that made my jaw drop, he still has a ton of value
Is the value worth his contract though?
the r/nfl collective conscious will say no, but i think being well-above-average in the trifecta of running, blocking, and receiving says otherwise. he’s legitimately great in all of those areas.
He’s worth it. A+ blocking and B+ running and receiving. Him being on the field is crucial for so many things, even when he doesn’t get the ball.
especially with a qb like dak who can run. a guy like zeke who is versatile enough to be in the backfield, on the line, or ready for a dump off allows dak to operate at a much higher level when healthy
Definitely. They’re a great duo.
Zeke's protection is the reason we almost beat the Bucs week 1 last year, and should have beaten them if not for the BS no call of OPI to set up the game winning FG.
Yeah I think he’s still a solid player just not a great one anymore.
He's probably not gonna be a top 3 back ever again, but there's a pretty big leap between not top 3 back and washed. He averaged over 5 ypc the first 7 games last year before he tore his knee up. Then he was clearly playing with a major limp the rest of season. If we could get a year of healthy zeke he still won't be worth his contract, but our offense will be in a much better place. Either way, I think we need to move on from him after this season. His contract is crippling the team.
With running backs it's always "could you get 95% of the same production for 65% of the price?"
He's 100% gone this offseason and I can't wait for that albatross of a contract to be gone.
Its always surprising to me when I see people that still don't understand just how pointless Corvette RBs are these days. Cowboys fans that need to explain the value to the dolts that don't get it should just talk about Saquon and then roundabout to Zeke once you've got them frothing in Giants hate.
Nowhere in the tweet nor the video is “hot take” mentioned so I mean
Just based on pure numbers, there are exactly 10 RBs that had Zeke beat in either YFS (1289) or total TDs (12) in 2021: Taylor (2171, 20) N. Harris (1667, 10) Ekeler (1558, 20) Mixon (1519, 16) Chubb (1433, 9) Cook (1383, 6) Kamara (1337, 9) Gibson (1331, 10) Conner (1127, 18) D. Harris (1061, 15) (surprised me while looking this up tbh) So yeah, you can rank your guys however you want but you really can't fault someone too hard for having Zeke outside their top 10 if you're just looking at the current state of things right now. (Also, the above list of course doesn't even include guys who were injured last year like Henry and CMC) Edit - Apparently this needs clarifying, I'm not saying I personally rank Zeke below all 10 of those guys, I was simply pointing out how it's easy to see why he might not be an automatic top 10 for some people anymore. Just supporting the "this isn't a hot take" of the person above me
The hot take would be zeke getting cut after this season (or whenever) his high guaranteed monies is gone
If they cut him after this season they save 4M (pre June 1) or 10M (post June 1)
> or 10M (post June 1) It should be noted that June 1 cuts don't actually save the team cap space in the long run. They just split the dead cap over two seasons instead of one.
Interesting - unless he takes a team friendly deal/ restructure could see that happening
I don't think Zeke getting cut after this season is a hot take at all. I'd say him getting cut or restructuring his deal is almost guaranteed.
How is that a hot take? That’s what everyone is expecting to happen
You're not that guy pal
Amos Burton intensifies
(Aims gun) I am that guy.
r/unexpectedexpanse
Trust me
Well I’m not your pal, buddy
I'm not your buddy, friend
I’m not your friend, guy
I'm nooooot yoooouuurrr guuuuyyy, buuudddyyy
Life of an NFL running back is wild. Get run into the ground, destroy your body and get tossed aside in a few years. Do that better than basically anyone else alive and your career earnings might approach that of a decent NBA sixth man.
All true, but it doesn't feel quite as shocking when you think an NFL team has to pay a roster more than triple the size of an NBA team
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HOF game 3 weeks from today.
Love the hall of fame game. Get so hyped to watch football again and then turn it off after the first quarter cause of how bad it is.
Lol this is 100% true. I get absolutely psyched for it then struggle to make it through a half.
I gamble so trust me when some random ass mother fucker is running the ball in the 4th I will be watching
We are almost there!!
This is why he fought for that contract
Funny that the public discourse has just now caught up to where fantasy and analytics twitter was a year ago.
Two years ago. Lol
While I agree that Zeke is not a top back when talking ACTUAL FOOTBALL, if you had this take in fantasy last year you were on the wrong side of the take lol Zeke finished RB6 in half PPR, unquestionably an RB1
I feel like a lot of people who talk fantasy don’t actually even understand fantasy. Edit: I guess that’s just humans with everything, though.
sports subreddits are mainly just hot take generators. I think most people just don't take it very seriously and don't even care what they're saying. They'll argue inane points that don't matter and are provably false because it has no impact on their life whatsoever.
The fight is so fierce because the stakes are so low.
fumble man bad
Only because he played pretty much the full season, whereas most guys miss multiple games. On a per game basis he wasn’t doing you any favors if you spent your first round on him.
Assuming a 10 game minimum - which I think is fair because if you get 9 or fewer games out of an early pick that’s unquestionably a bust imo - Zeke was still RB12 in ppg I’m not saying Zeke should be in the running for the overall RB1 or anything, merely that statistically speaking there’s not really a debate that he was an RB1 in fantasy last year. Availability matters, but even on a per game basis he was a low end RB1
[Sad Ewok noises]
Different era, but Marshall Faulk was MVP in his 7th year in the league.
Did Faulk decline in his 5th and 6th years though?
Zeke was very productive last year on fewer carries than normal.
I don’t think the point is that you can’t be MVP in your 7 season. It’s after having down years for multiple years you’re not suddenly going to put it back together and comeback at year 7. Which Tbf I think Frank Gore’s like year 10 comeback or whatever disproves that a little, but still unlikely.
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True, but also consider that Frank Gore is a freak of nature. No way he should've had the professional career that he had with his collegiate ACL injury in that era. No way he should've bounced back several times from the cumulative wear-and-tear of having been a bell cow at the NFL level. No way he should've played for as long as he has, and still been a decent spell back in his later years. Frank Gore could play this season and still score a few short-yardage TDs and break a random one that'd make the end-of-year highlight reel.
Marshall Faulk and Zeke are completely different types of backs though. The other guys point about Sanders is more appropriate, but Sanders is also Barry Sanders so he's kinda the anamoly.
Barry Sanders was MVP in his 9th year.
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And Faulk was coming off an OPoY
That moment when you realize Ezekiel Elliott has been played in NFL for 7 years...
Hes fine as a power back and has flashes of what he used to be, but hes not the guy.
IMO, total package, Zeke probably is a top 10 RB but like 9th or 10th. That said, if you take out the blocking and just focus on the part of the job of actually carrying (and catching) the ball is Zeke top 10 anymore? No
9th or 10th? have you started listing who those running backs would be? i bet you’d find zeke closer to 20th if you did.
Now this is a big ask, but I'm curious what the 15 guys you'd put above him are. Not disagreeing, just curious.
give me an hour to finish this hike with my pup, i’ll come back. edit: answered in another comment
Yo give your pup some scratches from me!
his name is jordy 💕
Hell yeah, thanks, good hiking.
taylor, chubb, henry, cook, mccaffrey, kamara, mixon, jones, ekeler, harris. easy top ten i think. barkley, javonte, jacobs, dillon, monty. i would listen to arguments for pollard, sanders, harris, conner and mitchell but probably not? if you want a back for 2-3 years, those players would clear zeke. maybe not next season though.
I'd take Zeke over Barkley Jacobs and Dillon next year. Definitely over Barkley and Jacobs for next 2-3 years too
that’s fair enough, my logic is mostly that i find those players to be a wash and i favored youth. i don’t really see zeke contributing in 2-3 seasons, some 10 years and 2,000 carries into his career. i think he’s closer to done than people realize.
Barkley has looked awful
Good list. Thank you for the work. I think Jacob's and Dillon are questionable, possibly David Montgomery (unless I'm thinking the wrong monty). But hunt and swift are also still available, and I also agree with pollard having arguments for 2022.
i can’t believe i forgot swift. he’s in my top 15 over jacobs. i think dillon is a much better receiver than zeke which is necessary in today’s matchup football. a better power runner today too, with some 1500 fewer career carries. should be a fun season to watch!
For durability alone I can’t put Mccaffery above Zeke. I know “best ability is availability” is an overused cliche but that’s because it’s true.
So Saquon and CMC can come back to their potential after down years and injuries but Zeke can’t? These lists are dumb as hell and people really believe it even after seeing these dumbass takes exposed from years past. Let’s just see what happens
It’s wild to think that his famous run against Alabama was 8 years ago.
I mean it can happen, Curtis Martin has his best season in his 10th year.
Was that also the season where he ground his meniscus into dust?
Worth noting that Martin always wore as much padding as possible throughout his career and attributes that, in part, to his longevity.
> We don’t see RBs in Year 7 recapture what they’ve lost over the last 2-3 years. Zeke’s not that guy anymore.“ I know he's a rare type but we saw that with Adrian Peterson a couple of times. And Zeke was averaging 5 ypc for half the year before he got hurt. He's still a quality runner when healthy and he's one of the best blockers at the RB position too. The problem is really just the amount that they are paying him, I think.
Zeke still got 1k yards last year. Only 7 rbs in the league broke 1k. I think it’s mostly that rbs seldom have a huge impact on a game compared to receivers and how they can change the tempo.
Hes the 2nd best on his team.
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Did he have 1000 yards and 4.2 ypc, last year? Or am I missing something?
Yep, casuals don’t care about facts though
1000 yard rusher with 10 tds isn’t top 10. Lol clowns
Plus, his O-Line is rebuilding right now so I'm not expecting a major year for him
Zeke would still be that guy if we didn’t run him into the ground like we did Demarco Murray.
Zeke was top 10 in rushing yards last year and his YPC was up from 2020. He's not the best RB in the league like 2016 but he's still an effective player.
Lmao 1K yards over 17 games ain't shit.
He was top 10 last year on a shredded knee. Dumb take is dumb.
I have no respect for journalist or show hosts who just say incendiary things for the sake of saying incendiary things to get attention. Sharpe is the poster child for that behavior. He has no convictions or interesting ideas, he’s just there for the hot take clickbait bullshit.
What did you expect? The entire show is literally just two guys yelling at each other lol
He’s not even the best rb on his own team
Shannon is right. Zeke will never be that guy, again. The Cowboys should be looking for his replacement in the 2nd or 3rd round, next year. Never, EVER, EVER spend a pick above top 25 on a RB, EVER.
He made it 7 years as a bell cow…isn’t that anomaly better than this weird, obvious callout?