Ezekiel Elliott had a down year for his standards this past season, but he will become a Top-5 running back in fantasy football in 2021
Elliott’s talents didn’t disappear
As most reading this already know the name Zeke Elliott, I’m here to reinforce it back into the top of your drafts once again next season. There are rumbling’s around the fantasy football universe that Ezekiel Elliott is on the downturn of his career and his best days are behind him. I can confidently say that is far from the truth.
In points per reception (PPR) leagues, Zeke finished the 2020 season as running back (RB) 9. He finished the season with 8 total touchdowns as well as 979 rushing yards, which were career lows. It’s easy to note that he was dramatically affected by injuries surrounding the Dallas Cowboys offense; including the obvious loss of starting QB Dak Prescott in week 5. He faced the 8th- most 8-man box defenses thanks to poor play out of the QB position after Prescott’s injury. Despite having inconsistent QB play the rest of the season and an injury ravaged offensive line group, Elliott finished RB9.
Ezekiel Elliott has been a perennial Top-10 fantasy football RB since he entered the NFL in 2016. The only time he finished outside the Top-10 at his position was his sophomore season, where he finished as the RB12. He only managed to play 10 games that year, otherwise he would of reigned supreme that season as well.
Dak Prescott went down with a devastating ankle injury in week 5. At that time Zeke was the RB3; behind only Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook. The Cowboys were the favorites to win the NFC East and Prescott was posting MVP type numbers. Elliott doesn’t rely on explosive plays. Instead he receives a lot of volume and that’s something I do not see changing in 2021. He finished 5th at RB in total touches despite the emergence of backup RB Tony Pollard.
Don’t pass up on Zeke in 2021
One of the many beauties of fantasy football is recency bias. With the perception that Zeke is a shell of himself we may be able to draft him in the middle to late first round in 2021 in redraft leagues (to get a look at his projected dynasty value, you can view that here). When it comes to a player of his caliber that’s a discount. Give me all the shares if I can draft him outside the Top-5.
Zeke has been a perennial top pick since he entered the league. This looks like it might be the first year where we can land him outside the Top-5 picks. He will regain his top fantasy RB status in a bounce-back season for the entire Cowboys organization. Assuming Dak returns at the helm in 2021 for Dallas, we can expect Zeke to eat once again in one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL.
