Now that the season is over, Ezekiel Elliott wants everyone to know that the knee injury he suffered back in Week 3 involved a partially torn PCL – that he’s been playing hurt all year. But that seems kind of fishy at this point.
Elliott certainly suffered a knee injury in that game against Carolina, but he spent most of the season saying he was fine. So did Jerry Jones. If this was indeed an injury that was hampering his power and speed, why didn’t he take steps to give himself a chance of being closer to 100 percent for the playoffs? In Tony Pollard, the Cowboys have another starter-caliber tailback. Why wasn’t Pollard playing more?
Most notably, Elliott played extensively in a meaningless Week 18 at Philadelphia, logging 18 carries for 87 yards to allow him to inch over 1,000 for the season. Why didn’t he sit out that game, giving him a better chance of being fresher and healthier for the postseason?
"I won't need a procedure. I just partially tore my PCL this year. It was an injury that wasn't going to get worse, but it was just going to take time. I was just doing my job in playing through the injury,” Elliott says. "I was going out there and doing what I needed to do for my team. I feel like everyone else in that locker room would have done the same."
Elliott has a guaranteed $12 million base salary for next year, so he’ll be back. But he doesn’t look like a difference maker nowadays, and I don’t expect that will change with an offseason to rest his knee. I’m thinking he’ll be sharing time with Pollard, who isn’t the same kind of bell-cow kind of back but has a lot more big-play ability.
Dallas didn’t get enough out of Elliott in 2021. He’s more of a contributor than a standout nowadays. He’s very good in pass protection, and he’s probably above-average in short-yardage situations. He muscled out a couple of first downs yesterday on plays where it looked like he’d be stopped well short. But there weren’t enough of those plays to merit him being one of the guys whose face is on all of the team’s billboards.
He averaged only 3.5 yards per carry in the second half of the season. Since Week 8, only two running backs with at least 100 carries have averaged fewer yards per carry.
| YARDS PER CARRY (since Week 8) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Rashaad Penny, Sea. | 111 | 732 | 6.59 | 6 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 227 | 1,232 | 5.43 | 13 |
| Nick Chubb, Clev. | 138 | 736 | 5.33 | 4 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 124 | 585 | 4.72 | 4 |
| Dalvin Cook, Min. | 169 | 793 | 4.69 | 4 |
| Melvin Gordon, Den. | 125 | 568 | 4.54 | 6 |
| Damien Harris, N.E. | 116 | 522 | 4.50 | 10 |
| Elijah Mitchell, S.F. | 171 | 763 | 4.46 | 4 |
| Devin Singletary, Buff. | 144 | 640 | 4.44 | 8 |
| Josh Jacobs, L.V. | 170 | 751 | 4.42 | 4 |
| Javonte Williams, Den. | 134 | 583 | 4.35 | 3 |
| D'Onta Foreman, Ten. | 133 | 566 | 4.26 | 3 |
| AJ Dillon, G.B. | 135 | 572 | 4.24 | 5 |
| Sony Michel, LAR | 152 | 636 | 4.18 | 3 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 133 | 555 | 4.17 | 8 |
| Devonta Freeman, Balt. | 113 | 467 | 4.13 | 3 |
| Antonio Gibson, Was. | 155 | 629 | 4.06 | 4 |
| Najee Harris, Pitt. | 217 | 841 | 3.88 | 5 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 186 | 714 | 3.84 | 9 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 126 | 479 | 3.80 | 3 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 108 | 398 | 3.69 | 0 |
| James Conner, Ariz. | 113 | 416 | 3.68 | 9 |
| Rex Burkhead, Hou. | 121 | 428 | 3.54 | 3 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 147 | 512 | 3.48 | 5 |
| David Montgomery, Chi. | 156 | 540 | 3.46 | 4 |
| Myles Gaskin, Mia. | 119 | 369 | 3.10 | 3 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
Elliott gained only 31 yards on 12 carries on Sunday. The best running back on the field in that game was rookie Elijah Mitchell, a sixth-round draft pick. If we include Deebo Samuel (who’s listed as a wide receiver), Elliott wasn’t even one of the top 3 running backs in that game.
It makes for an awkward situation heading into 2022. Elliott has been a star in the past. He’s getting paid like he’s one of the very best running backs in the game. But he’s probably no longer one of the top 20 players at his position.
It was not a good weekend for high-priced running backs. Only five ran for more than 50 yards, and four of them were guys making about $1 million (the lone exception being Josh Jacobs, a first-rounder in his rookie deal who made $2.9 million – about a fifth as much as Elliott).
Contract numbers come from OverTheCap.com -- 2021 salaries for each guy.
| PLAYOFF RUNNING BACKS (by salary) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Att | Yds | TD | Salary |
| Ezekiel Elliott | Dall. | 12 | 31 | 0 | $15,000,000 |
| Derrick Henry | Ten. | bye | bye | bye | $12,500,000 |
| Aaron Jones | G.B. | bye | bye | bye | $12,000,000 |
| Joe Mixon | Cin. | 17 | 48 | 0 | $12,000,000 |
| Kenyan Drake | L.V. | IR | IR | IR | $5,500,000 |
| Jalen Richard | L.V. | 0 | 0 | 0 | $3,500,000 |
| Najee Harris | Pitt. | 12 | 29 | 0 | $3,261,861 |
| Leonard Fournette | T.B. | IR | IR | IR | $3,250,000 |
| • Josh Jacobs | L.V. | 13 | 83 | 0 | $2,983,350 |
| Raheem Mostert | S.F. | IR | IR | IR | $2,900,000 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | K.C. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $2,705,394 |
| James White | N.E. | IR | IR | IR | $2,462,500 |
| Sony Michel | LAR | ? | ? | ? | $2,406,674 |
| Jeff Wilson | S.F. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $2,050,000 |
| Brandon Bolden | N.E. | 0 | 0 | 0 | $1,850,000 |
| Ronald Jones | T.B. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $1,767,982 |
| James Conner | Ariz. | ? | ? | ? | $1,750,000 |
| Taiwan Jones | Buff. | 0 | 0 | 0 | $1,750,000 |
| Samaje Perine | Cin. | 1 | 2 | 0 | $1,650,000 |
| Darrel Williams | K.C. | 1 | 4 | 0 | $1,600,000 |
| Cam Akers | LAR | ? | ? | ? | $1,543,261 |
| Miles Sanders | Phil. | 7 | 16 | 0 | $1,340,058 |
| AJ Dillon | G.B. | bye | bye | bye | $1,321,458 |
| Trey Sermon | S.F. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $1,218,234 |
| Giovani Bernard | T.B. | 13 | 44 | 1 | $1,212,500 |
| • KeShawn Vaughn | T.B. | 17 | 53 | 1 | $1,177,110 |
| Zack Moss | Buff. | 1 | 0 | 0 | $1,130,520 |
| Darrynton Evans | Ten. | bye | bye | bye | $1,109,430 |
| LeVeon Bell | T.B. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $1,075,000 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson | N.E. | 8 | 27 | 0 | $1,057,265 |
| Matt Breida | Buff. | 0 | 0 | 0 | $1,055,000 |
| Darrell Henderson | LAR | ? | ? | ? | $1,053,001 |
| Anthony McFarland, | Pitt. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $1,004,358 |
| Corey Clement | Dall. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $990,000 |
| • Jerick McKinnon | K.C. | 12 | 61 | 0 | $990,000 |
| Peyton Barber | L.V. | 0 | 0 | 0 | $990,000 |
| Jordan Howard | Phil. | 0 | 0 | 0 | $990,000 |
| • Devin Singletary | Buff. | 16 | 81 | 2 | $974,500 |
| Kenneth Gainwell | Phil. | 1 | 6 | 0 | $953,881 |
| Trenton Cannon | S.F. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $920,000 |
| D'Onta Foreman | Ten. | bye | bye | bye | $920,000 |
| Dontrell Hilliard | Ten. | bye | bye | bye | $920,000 |
| Buddy Howell | LAR | ? | ? | ? | $920,000 |
| Boston Scott | Phil. | 1 | 34 | 1 | $920,000 |
| Kalen Ballage | Pitt. | 4 | 13 | 0 | $920,000 |
| • Elijah Mitchell | S.F. | 27 | 96 | 1 | $915,893 |
| Chris Evans | Cin. | 1 | 9 | 0 | $913,222 |
| Damien Harris | N.E. | 9 | 30 | 0 | $907,784 |
| Trayveon Williams | Cin. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $907,500 |
| Jake Funk | LAR | ? | ? | ? | $897,057 |
| Kylin Hill | G.B. | bye | bye | bye | $889,766 |
| Jason Huntley | Phil. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $860,000 |
| Eno Benjamin | Ariz. | ? | ? | ? | $849,429 |
| Benny Snell | Pitt. | 2 | 15 | 0 | $805,517 |
| Tony Pollard | Dall. | 4 | 14 | 0 | $797,582 |
| Rico Dowdle | Dall. | IR | IR | IR | $765,000 |
| J.J. Taylor | N.E. | DNP | DNP | DNP | $761,667 |
| Patrick Taylor | G.B. | bye | bye | bye | $742,500 |
| Chase Edmonds | Ariz. | ? | ? | ? | $728,089 |
| Jonathan Ward | Ariz. | ? | ? | ? | $695,000 |
| JaMycal Hasty | S.F. | 0 | 0 | 0 | $695,000 |
| Derrick Gore | K.C. | 3 | 3 | 0 | $660,000 |
| Alec Ingold | L.V. | IR | IR | IR | $588,333 |
—Ian Allan