Many Cowboys fan wonder what does it mean to be Dak Friendly? All offseason the newest headline grabber coming out of the Cowboys camp is this whole “Dak Friendly” offense and how the Cowboys are now “Dak Friendly.” Personally, I think it means that the Cowboys have finally bought into having Dak Prescott as their Franchise quarterback. Dak Friendly just means the Cowboys are building the offense around Prescott's strengths.
In 2016, Dak’s rookie year, we saw the Cowboys have great success. The team finished with the #1 seed in the NFC and ranked in the top 10 on offense. Much of that success was had without the presence of a true number one wide receiver. Dez Bryant missed four games and was in and out of the lineup with a number of different injuries. Dez Bryant still made the pro bowl that year even though Cole Beasley led the team in targets, receiving yards, and receptions. In fact that year Dez was third in targets and receptions behind Beasley and Witten. The one thing Dez did lead the team in was receiving touchdowns, and he will be sorely missed in that capacity.
Fast forward a year and Dak seemingly took a step backward last season. After looking further into the season it’s easy to see why Dak didn’t look as good. He was searching for Dez and Jason Witten too often. Dez had 132 targets last season? Jason Witten, at age 35, had 87 targets? Cole Beasley had 63 targets? The pressure of trying to get the ball to the teams two most reliable receiving targets completely derailed the Cowboys offense. Now many will say that it’s Dak’s job to get the ball to the open receiver. That’s true but he also has to feed these guys because they’re proven. On reputations alone, both Dez and Jason Witten have seen the mountain in the league. Dez has led the NFL in receiving TDs twice in his career. Many considered Jason Witten the best tight end in the league at one point of his career. While these statements are true about both players, neither of them performed at a high-level last season. Throw in the fact that Dak lost Zeke and you see why the Cowboys had the issues they had. Thus the creations of the Dak Friendly offense. You really want to know what Dak Friendly is, put the ball in the hands of the best player on the team, Zeke Elliott!
Yeah, I said it! Ezekiel Elliott is the best player on this Cowboys team! There isn’t anything wrong with that. Those of you that want that to be a bad thing have completely lost your minds. Yes, Dak Prescott is the quarterback and is expected to be the best player on the team. Well, his job is to win games and get the ball to the open receiver. When the ball is put in Zeke's hands the Cowboys can compete with any team in the NFL.
It isn’t a surprise that the Cowboys 2017 season was derailed by the Zeke suspension. It’s no surprise that Dak wasn’t the same quarterback without his partner in crime. The surprise is people thinking that Dak isn't supposed to struggling without his best weapon. Zeke is a game changer and this 2018 Cowboys offense is going to “Unleash the Zeke”!
Did anyone see how effective Todd Gurley was in the Rams offense last season? Don’t worry I will update you. Gurley ran for 1305 yards, on 279 carries, for a 4.7 yards per attempt average. He also added another 788 receiving yards and 6 receiving touchdowns. Gurley led his team in yards from scrimmage and total touchdowns. Todd Gurley ranked 18th in receiving yards for the season and the only running back to have more yards than him was Alvin Kamara. The point I’m making is Zeke can be everything to the Cowboys, that Gurley was for the Rams, and then some!
In the 10 games that Zeke played, he rushed for 982 yards, seven touchdowns, on 4.1 yards per carry. He also had 269 yards on 26 receptions and 2 receiving touchdowns. Compare that to his rookie season where he rushed for 1631 yards, 15 rushing touchdowns, and had 32 receptions for 363 yards. I don’t want to bore you with all the mathematics. Zeke carried the ball 242 times in the 10 games he played. That’s 37 times less than Gurley. If you average out the additional 37 carries with Zeke’s yards per carry average (4.1) you get an additional 151 yards to add to Zeke rushing total (1133). That isn't more than Gurley's output but, I’m getting to my point. Project Zeke’s per carry game average of 24.2 over the 6 games (at the 4.1 ypc average) that he should have played in and you get an additional 595 yards. That would eclipse what Gurley put up last season on the ground. There isn’t any dispute that Zeke is in a better situation to rush for more yards because the Cowboys run the ball more. The passing game is where Zeke can help take this offense to the next level.
I like the comparison between Todd Gurley and Zeke Elliot because I feel like they both have huge impacts on their teams. Both their quarterbacks have a lot to prove so they’re relied upon to carry the offensive load. For some reason, the Cowboys refuse to use Zeke as a focal point in the passing game. Elliot has a career 10.9 yards per reception average! That means that he averages a first down every time you throw him the ball! What? You have a player on your team that is good for a first down, each reception, and somehow you have to find a number one receiver? Please! The dink and dunk nature of this offense will allow all these receivers to be effective at certain points in games. Maybe one of them emerges as a legit number one wide receiver. If they don’t then Zeke is perfectly capable of carrying the load on the ground and through the air. An 2000 yards for scrimmage season is in Zeke's future, but could that be this year in 2018?
I bring up Todd Gurley for a reason, I expect Zeke to have the same impact this season for the Cowboys. He will be running behind the best offensive line in football. Zeke can easily eclipse 1800 rushing yards. He is also the Cowboys best player at making things happen once the ball hits his hands. The Cowboys will feature a faster passing attack this season because they may not have the downfield weapons. That means they will be getting the ball out of Dak’s hands quickly and putting it on the hands of playmakers. I know they have Tavon Austin and Cole Beasley. Nobody is better at making things happen in open field than Zeke Elliott. With the addition of Tavon Austin, it will be extremely hard for teams to focus on stopping Zeke. Zeke will have a huge season in 2018. I expect his stat line to be 2000 yards rushing, 20 rushing touchdowns, and 700 receiving yards with another 10 receiving touchdowns. I know those are lofty totals and this may all be optimism from a fan. If the Cowboys are going to have any success this season on the offensive side of the ball. It will begin and end with #21!
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