t would be tempting to look around in the Cowboys running back room and decide that since Ezekiel Elliott is back in town and again in his familiar surroundings after a one-year walkabout in the AFC, he will be the guy carrying the heavy load for the Cowboys next year. Oh but coach Mike McCarthy has other ideas on that.
Speaking about the transition phase that the Cowboys running game finds itself in after the departure of free agent Tony Pollard in March, McCarthy said it will be his goal to ensure that Elliott does not have to handle too much of the Cowboys workload in 2024.
McCarthy was asked whether Elliott would be “the man” again back in Dallas. McCarthy was pretty emphatic in s don’t think that’s fair,” he said. “What do you mean? The guy carried the ball more than anybody in the history of football in the first couple of years. That’s not going to be his role, we’re a running back by committee. He’ll definitely play at the level that he’s played at in my time here. I anticipate that. I don’t see any drop off in the way he moves.”
McCarthy is right: Elliott has as sterling a resume as a Cowboys running back as just about any in franchise history.
He led the league in rushing as a rookie, and again in his third season, and led the NFL in yards per game for his first three years, at 108.7 yards, 98.3 and 95.6. He scored 68 touchdowns in seven seasons.
But as so often happens with NFL running backs, Elliott flamed out under the weight of his early workload. He had four great seasons to start his career, but he declined precipitously after that. By his final season in Dallas, in 2022, he tallied 58.4 yards per game and a career-low 3.8 yards per carry. Last year with the Patriots, that dropped to 3.5
