Ezekiel Elliott has tough Week 1 Matchup
By Jon Dove
Ezekiel Elliott will be tested in his week 1 matchup against the New York Giants.
Everyone is expecting big things from Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott. It’s sort of a perfect storm with someone with Elliott’s talent running behind such a powerful offensive line. There’s really no reason to think he won’t be able to be one of the top NFL rushes in his rookie season.
However, it’s possible that he has some struggles going against the New York Giants in the 1st week of the season. The Giants defensive line might be one of the few units in the NFL that can match the physicality of the Cowboys offensive line.
New York opened up the vault this offseason spending big bucks on Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins. These three team up with current players like Johnathan Hankins, Jason Pierre-Paul and Dominique Rodgers-Comartie.
The front four is especially impressive with edge rushers like Vernon and Pierre-Paul on the outside and run stuffers like Hankins and Harrison up the middle.
Hankins and Harrison have established themselves as elite run defenders. They are nearly impossible to move off the line of scrimmage and are capable of occupying multiple blockers. This not only limits running lanes but also allows speedy linebackers like JT Thomas and Devon Kennard to freely pursue the football.
The Giants also added veteran Keenan Robinson to play inside linebacker and rookie BJ Goodson to push him for playing time. Safety Landon Collins is also known as a big-hitter who’ll be allowed to spend more time near the line of scrimmage.
Game planning may also play a factor in a slow start for Elliott as the Cowboys might want to test the Giants secondary. Rodgers-Cromartie and Jenkins are proven players, but the safety position is a huge question mark.
With all this being said, there’s little doubt in my mind that Elliott will have a great rookie year and NFL career. He’s the type of talent capable of making a good defense look bad. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds to the pressure of playing a tough defense in his first NFL game.