Ezekiel Elliott

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Ezekiel Elliott
refer to caption
No. 21 Dallas Cowboys
Position: Running back
Personal information
Date of birth: (1995-07-22) July 22, 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth: Alton, Illinois
Height: Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Weight: Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Career information
High school: Ladue (MO) Burroughs
College: Ohio State
NFL draft: 2016 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
College
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

Ezekiel "Zeke" Elliott (born July 22, 1995) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State where he earned All-American honors in 2015. Elliott was drafted by the Cowboys fourth overall in the 2016 NFL draft.

High school career

Despite Ezekiel's athletic pedigree, Elliott attended more academically-driven John Burroughs School in Ladue, Missouri,[1][2] where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball and track, and also played baseball.[2] He played as a running back for the John Burroughs Bombers football team. As a junior in 2012, he was named the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offensive player of the year after rushing for 1,802 yards and 34 touchdowns and receiving 23 passes for 401 yards and six scores. In his senior year, he had 3,061 all-purpose yards and 50 total touchdowns, including 2,155 rushing yards and 40 rushing touchdowns.[3] He led the football team to three straight title games, but lost all three.[2]

Also a standout track & field athlete, Elliott was a state qualifier in sprinting and hurdling events. He capped his high school career by winning four state championships at the Missouri Class 3 state championships in ​2 12 hours (100-meter dash, 200, 110 high hurdles and 300 hurdles).[4] He recorded career-best times of 10.95 seconds in the 100-meter dash, 22.05 seconds in the 200-meter dash, 13.77 seconds in the 110m hurdles and 37.52 seconds in the 300m hurdles. He was named the Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year in the state of Missouri.

Considered a four-star recruit by Scout.com, Elliott was listed as the No. 9 running back in the nation in 2013.[5]

College career

Despite overwhelming support and pressure for Ezekiel to sign with his parent's alma mater - University of Missouri, Elliott decided to sign with Ohio State University.[2] As a true freshman at Ohio State University in 2013, Elliott rushed for 262 yards on 30 carries with two touchdowns as a backup to starter Carlos Hyde. In 2014, Elliott took over as the starter.[6][7] During the season, Elliott was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Conference team.[8] In the final two games of the 2014 season, against Indiana and Michigan he ran for 107 yards and 121 yards respectively. In the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game against the Wisconsin Badgers, Elliott ran for 220 yards on 20 carries for two touchdowns. In the 2015 Sugar Bowl against No. 1 Alabama, Elliott ran for 230 yards on 20 carries in the first-ever college football playoffs as Ohio State defeated Alabama in a hard-fought game, 42–35. He was named the Offensive Player of the Game. He then capped the Buckeyes' championship season by rushing for 246 yards on 36 carries and scoring four touchdowns against the Oregon Ducks.[9] He won was named the Offensive MVP of that game as well.

In a post-game interview following Ohio State's 14–17 loss to Michigan State, on Nov. 21, 2015, Elliott announced that he would forgo his senior year at Ohio State and enter the 2016 NFL Draft [10] The following week Elliott ran for 214 yards on 30 carries in a 42–13 Ohio State victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor.[11] Elliott finished his career at Ohio State second in career rushing yards behind Archie Griffin and ahead of Eddie George, with 3,961.

Individual awards

Ezekiel Elliott received numerous honors during his tenure at Ohio State. In the 2014 season, Elliott was named the Offensive MVP of both the 2015 Sugar Bowl and the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

His success at the end of the 2014 season made him a front-runner for the 2015 Heisman Trophy. After a successful regular season in which he gained 1,672 yards and 19 touchdowns, Elliott was named the 2015 Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year, 2015 Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year and was selected as Unanimous First Team All-Big Ten. In addition to the yearly awards, he was also named Big Ten Player of the Week twice during the 2015 season for his performances in Week five against Indiana, and in Week 13 against Michigan.[12]

Statistics

Collegiate career statistics
Ohio State Buckeyes
Season Rushing Receiving
Att Yards Avg Long TD Rec Yards Avg Long TD
2013 30 262 8.7 57 2 3 23 7.7 11 1
2014 273 1,878 6.9 85 18 28 220 7.9 22 0
2015 289 1,821 6.3 80 23 27 206 7.6 30 0
NCAA Total 592 3,961 6.7 85 43 58 449 7.7 30 1

Professional career

2016 NFL Draft

Elliott has been labeled as the best, most complete back to enter the draft since Adrian Peterson, 9 years prior.[13][14] He was seen as the top running back in the draft class and predicted to be a top 10 selection.[15][16][17]

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
5 ft ​11 12 in 225 lb 31 14 in 9 14 in 4.47 s 32 12 in 9 ft 10 in
All values from NFL Combine.[18][19]

Dallas Cowboys

Elliott was selected 4th overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2016 NFL draft on April 28, 2016.[20] He is widely regarded as an early favorite for the 2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year while playing behind what many agree upon as the NFL's most dominant offensive line leading up to the 2016 NFL season.[21][22][23][24] On May 18, 2016, Elliott signed his four-year rookie contract reportedly worth $24.9 million with a $16.3 million signing bonus.[25]

Personal life

Elliott's dad, Stacy, played outside linebacker for the Missouri Tigers and was on the losing end of the infamous "fifth down" play in which Colorado scored a game-winning touchdown after officials in charge of the down markers failed to mark a play. He now works as a social worker. Elliott's mother, Dawn, was a heptathlete for University of Missouri, and now works as an accounts manager.

His maternal grandfather, Leon Huff, played basketball professionally overseas especially in Finland. Leon's son Shawn Huff is an international basketball player representing Finnish national team.

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 ESPN E60 Ezekiel Elliott
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links