Ezekiel Elliott

Ezekiel Elliott

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No. 21 Dallas Cowboys
Position: Running back
Personal information
Date of birth: (1995-07-22) July 22, 1995
Place of birth: Alton, Illinois
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight: 226 lb (103 kg)
Career information
High school: Ladue (MO) Burroughs
College: Ohio State
NFL draft: 2016 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4
Career history
Roster status: Unsigned draft pick
Career highlights and awards
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 and 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 1⁄2 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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7][8] During the season, Elliott was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Conference team.[9] 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.[10] 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 [11] The following week Elliott ran for 214 yards on 30 carries in a 42–13 Ohio State victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor.[12] 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.[13]

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 was seen as the top running back in the draft class and predicted to be a top 10 selection.[14][15][16]

Pre-draft measurables
Ht WtArm lengthHand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
5 ft 11 1⁄2 in 225 lb31 1⁄4 in9 1⁄4 in 4.47 s 32 1⁄2 in 9 ft 10 in
All values from NFL Combine.[17][18]

Dallas Cowboys

On April 28, 2016, Elliott was selected 4th overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2016 NFL draft.[19]

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 later works as a social worker Elliott's mother, Dawn, was a heptathlete for University of Missouri[2], and later 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.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott is never satisfied". ESPN.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 ESPN E60 Ezekiel Elliott
  3. ↑ "OVERALL MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Ezekiel Elliott, John Burroughs". stltoday.com. 1 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "OhioStateBuckeyes.com Ezekiel Elliott Bio :: The Ohio State University Official Athletic Site The Ohio State University Official Athletic Site :: Football".
  5. ↑ https://www.trackingfootball.com/players/ezekiel-elliot-1692/
  6. ↑ "Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State RB - Scout". 28 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Tom Archdeacon. "Ohio State football: Ezekiel Elliott emerges as elite running back for Buckeyes". www.ohio.com.
  8. ↑ "Ohio State Buckeyes RB Ezekiel Elliott seeks to fill lead role in 2014 - Big Ten Blog- ESPN". ESPN.com.
  9. ↑ "OhioStateBuckeyes.com  :: The Ohio State University Official Athletic Site The Ohio State University Official Athletic Site :: Football".
  10. ↑ "College Football Gamecast - Oregon vs Ohio State".
  11. ↑ Dan Kadar (23 November 2015). "Ezekiel Elliott leads exodus of Ohio State talent headed to the NFL". SBNation.com. Vox Media.
  12. ↑ "Ohio State Buckeyes feed Ezekiel Elliott in a blowout at the Big House - Big Ten Blog- ESPN". ESPN.com.
  13. ↑ Fox Sports. "Ohio State star Ezekiel Elliott picks up pair of Big Ten season awards". FOX Sports.
  14. ↑ Reuter, Chad (Mar 11, 2016). "Four-round mock 4.0: Cowboys land Joey Bosa, Derrick Henry". NFL.com. Retrieved Mar 17, 2016.
  15. ↑ Jeremiah, Daniel (Mar 14, 2016). "Mock draft 4.0: Bears find QB of future". NFL.com. Retrieved Mar 17, 2016.
  16. ↑ Brooks, Bucky (Mar 16, 2016). "Mock draft 4.0: Broncos land QB of future". NFL.com. Retrieved Mar 17, 2016.
  17. ↑ "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Ezekiel Elliott".
  18. ↑ "*Ezekiel Elliott - Ohio State, RB : 2016 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile".
  19. ↑ "NFL draft: Results, analysis for every Round 1 pick". ESPN.com. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  20. ↑ "Ykköskierroksella varatulla superlupauksella on yllättävä Suomi-kytkös – ”Todellinen monilahjakkuus”". Ilta-Sanomat. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.

External links

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