The first night of the 2016 NFL Draft will take place Thursday night, and despite all of the mock drafts and analysis, no one knows exactly what will happen. Will there be another big trade? How many quarterbacks will go in the first round? The only thing that is a virtual certainty is that two quarterbacks will, yet again, be the first two players off the board.
The Los Angeles Rams (via a trade with the Tennessee Titans) will most likely draft Jared Goff out of Cal with the first pick and the Philadelphia Eagles (after trading with the Cleveland Browns to move up to two) will then probably select Carson Wentz out of North Dakota State, much to the chagrin of Sam Bradford and his agent. There isn’t much drama there. The real intrigue will begin when the Dallas Cowboys are on the clock at number four.
Will Dallas try to make a trade and move back in this draft, while picking up more draft picks? If they stand pat at four, will they be smart and draft help for their defense (i.e. former Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey or former Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa), or will they actually pull the trigger on running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was a teammate of Bosa’s at Ohio State?
DALLAS COWBOYS DRAFTING EZEKIEL ELLIOT WOULD BE A MISTAKE
Recently there has been a lot of speculation that Dallas is entertaining the idea of selecting Elliott with the fourth pick. If they do that would be a mistake by owner Jerry Jones (who really shouldn’t be involved in football decisions) and the Cowboys organization. That statement is not an indictment on the former Buckeye’s ability, who averaged more than six yards per carry the last two seasons and found the endzone 41 times, it’s more of a statement about the state of the NFL.
Elliott is certainly a playmaker. He will have no problem running the ball effectively in the NFL and he can catch the ball out of the backfield. If the former Buckeye stays healthy there is little doubt that he will have a successful NFL career. But Dallas has far larger issues they need to address. Fellow Last Word on Sports writer, Joe Garcia, recently wrote an article detailing the Cowboys top three draft needs and two of the three needs he listed were on defense (defensive tackle and cornerback). True, the third need listed is running back, but the Cowboys can address that position later in the draft, without using the fourth overall pick.
Yes, adding Elliott to the Cowboys backfield would help take some pressure off of quarterback Tony Romo, and it would be a flashy pick, but addressing their defensive line and secondary would be much more prudent.
The last time a Super Bowl champion led the league, as team, in rushing? The 1985 Chicago Bears, and it’s probably safe to assume that the Bears defense led the charge for that Lombardi Trophy, and the Cowboys defense is not even in the same zip code, talent wise, as that Bears team. It helps to have a productive running game, which can take pressure off of a quarterback, but Super Bowl trophies are not won by the team with the best running back. Super Bowls are won by quarterbacks and defenses.
The last 15 Super Bowls were won by the following quarterbacks: Tom Brady (4), Ben Roethlisberger (2), Peyton Manning (2), Eli Manning (2), Brad Johnson (1), Drew Brees (1), Aaron Rogers (1), Joe Flacco (1) and Russell Wilson (1). Other than Brad Johnson (and possibly Joe Flacco and Russell Wilson) all of those quarterbacks are either definitely headed for, or have a good shot at making it to, the Hall of Fame.
Ezekiel Elliott is definitely the most talented, and NFL ready, running back in this year’s draft and he is worthy of a being a top ten pick (maybe to Cleveland at eight), but the Cowboys need to use the fourth pick to help their defense.
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