Ezekiel Elliott Open to Less Carries

Ezekiel Elliott has had over 300 carries in three of his four NFL seasons (he was suspended for six games the year he didn’t). Going into this season, with new head coach Mike McCarthy, some people expect him to be less of a workhorse back — either due to splitting carries with Tony Pollard (who averaged 5.3 yards per carry last season) or because the team is going to pass a lot more.

On 105.3 The Fan with Shan and RJ earlier this week, Elliott was asked if he’d be open to splitting carries. “I mean, I’ve been pretty durable through my career. … 300 carries every season … haven’t seemed to be slowing down yet,” he said. “But if they ever came to me and asked me to split carries, I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna do whatever they ask me to do to win. That’s my number one thing. I love being the bell-cow. I love getting the rock 30 times a game. I do. But whatever this team needs me to do to win that’s what I’m gonna do.”

A lot of people expect the Cowboys to be a throwing team. They have three potential 1,000-yard receivers in Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb getting the ball from Dak Prescott, and Mike McCarthy had a reputation for a pass-heavy offense in Green Bay.

Earlier this month, he swatted off Ed Werder for bringing that up:

We all gonna EAT. Don’t try to start that messy 💩. https://t.co/ovu0NpjXqX

— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) August 5, 2020

It does warrant mentioning that Eddie Lacy had 284 carries in 2013, so that was a season McCarthy adapted the tendencies a little bit. We’ll see what happens, but this dynamic is something to think about as you prepare for fantasy football drafts.