Brooks: Ezekiel Elliott will be 'viable starting running back' for Cowboys in 2024 'The Insiders'

Biggest looming questions before training camps open and the Cowboys report to Oxnard less than a month away. Their first practice, on July 25th, is the future of Dak Prescott. He is, of course, headed into the final year of his contract. Can they get a deal done? Is he potentially going to hit the free agent market in 2025? For more on all things Cowboys, let's go to Dallas. Our friend Jane Slater along with Bucky Brooks as well. Jane, quite frankly, we've had this DAC conversation many, many, many times. You've spent a lot of time in the offseason observing other things on the practice field. We'll talk DAC, but I'm very curious, as you sit back here and think about Cowboys less than a month away from training camp, what are some of the big things that are standing out in your mind? Tom, I really do appreciate the pass on this one because yes, we've talked a lot about those contracts and we'll be talking a lot more about them as we lead up to camp. I will tell you everything is quiet in Dallas except for the big splash that is the Dallas Cowboys trailer documentary on Netflix. Check it out. But you know, as I'm sitting here and I'm thinking about some of the offseason workouts and some of the storylines, I find myself thinking about not a lot of things. And one of the things that I've been thinking about, Tom, is, and again, I want to make sure that this segment is not sourced information. No one is telling me these things. But just given the fact I've covered this team for over a decade, the things that I'm thinking about start with the running back position. We keep hearing that the Cowboys are going to do this whole running back by committee. Well, they kind of tried that last year. Remember, even though they brought Tony Pollard back in to be their main guy, it didn't quite work out. So lo and behold, they go out, they get AZ Ezekiel Elliott. Now, a lot of you might be sitting there going, well, does Ezekiel Elliott still have juice? He does, folks. He had three touchdowns, 51 receptions and a little over 800 yards on the ground after he was splitting the role in New England. He won it out. So I truly believe they can say committee all day, but he's going to have the bulk of the workload. I mean, when I went back and looked at some of the numbers of the guys in the depth chart, we're talking Hunter Lefke, Juice Fawn, Malik Davis, Snoop Connor Lepke has six carries, 19 yards and a touchdown. Juice has 23 yards, 40 carries. And they've been working him in the slot receiver role. Malik Davis didn't even play last year. And Rico Dowdell, 2 touchdowns in three years and 385 yards in the same span. Now, they did go out and get Royce Freeman. He's a big body back, but she'd really have to go all the way back to 2019 to see him really make a difference on the field. Bucky, what say you? Well, Jane, thanks for tipping me off about America's Sweethearts because I have been paying attention and Zeke Elliott's story reminds me of some of the ladies on the show that got cut. Then they come back, they continue to be on the team and make big contributions. That's what the Cowboys are counting on Zeke Elliott to do. They may not say that, but a veteran running back is clearly head and shoulders above the other running backs in the room. That means that when it comes down to clutch time, the ball is going to be in Zeke Elliott's hands and although he has lost a little bit, he's not the speech through that he once was. He may not still be the back that could give you 1500 yards. He certainly is a viable starting running back in in this offense where trust with Dak Prescott is everything. Bringing Zeke Elliott back certainly helps the Dallas Cowboys get back on track in terms of running the football effectively when they need to run the ball and has been emphasized to me. This was not a nostalgia signing by the Cowboys when they dug into the tape last year from New England the back half of the season when Remindre Stevenson was banged up, Zeke was carrying more the load. He finally had his legs underneath him. This very much looked like the Zeke that they've seen in the past.