After disappointing since Week 5, Dallas Cowboys’ RB Ezekiel Elliott now enters the fantasy playoffs with a calf injury. Unfortunately, 2020 has not been kind to fantasy football managers who had an early pick this year. What is the latest news as we approach Week 14, and what should we expect from Ezekiel Elliott as he heads into a matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Sunday, December 13th: Ezekiel Elliott is active for the Dallas Cowboys Week 14 matchup.
Ezekiel Elliott “limited” with a Calf Injury for Wednesday’s practice
Rob Phillips of the Cowboys’ official site reported that RB Ezekiel Elliott was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday’s estimated practice report with a calf injury.
Because the Cowboys played on Tuesday night against the Baltimore Ravens, the team put out an estimated practice report.
“The early report on Zeke is we don’t see him doing a whole lot in practice Thursday and Friday,” coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday evening. “We will have more information as the week goes on.”
If Ezekiel Elliott were to miss the game due to injury, that would be a first for his career. Despite touching the ball 1,600 times, Elliott has never missed a start due to injury.
He’s been inactive for regular-season finales in 2016 and 2018, and he was suspended for six games in 2017 for violations of the NFL conduct policy.
Ezekiel Elliott has no plans to let an injury keep him out on Sunday
On Thursday, Ezekiel Elliott said his calf injury is more of a contusion. However, he doesn’t think it will stop him from playing through the pain.
“I don’t think it should limit me much at all. Might be a little tender, but I’m tough.”
Elliott added that the frustration of their season and being still in the chase is added motivation to play through his calf injury.
“You can’t not be frustrated. You have to be frustrated. I think if you aren’t frustrated, then you don’t give a f—-. I know everyone in this locker room and in this building is frustrated.”
On Tuesday, Elliott finished with 77 yards on 18 carries and four receptions for 18 yards.
Elliott previously played through a hamstring injury this season, so another lower-body issue doesn’t seem like a huge concern. Elliott isn’t a player who needs many reps in practice to get ready for a game. Which is a good thing as they have a short week before taking on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ezekiel Elliott has been a fantasy disappointment in 2020
As I said earlier, if you had a top pick, the odds of you being happy right now are basically zero. Christian McCaffrey has played three games. Saquon Barkley was lost to an ACL tear early on. Alvin Kamara got you to the playoffs, but with Drew Brees out has seen a 70% drop in fantasy production. Michael Thomas has played in five games, and when not playing, the Atlanta Falcons averages 36.3 yards per game. And then there is Ezekiel Elliott.
To start the season off, Elliott was as good as advertised. From Week 1 to 5, Elliott was the RB3 in PPR scoring. He rushed 89 times for 364 yards while scoring five rushing touchdowns. Elliott added 24 receptions on 32 targets, 173 yards, and one more score. All in all, Elliott averaged 22.3 PPR points per game. The Dallas Cowboys were firing on all cylinders. They were the number one offense in the NFL, and Dak Prescott was looking like an MVP candidate.
Once Dak was injured, everything changed for the Cowboys offense
Since Week 6, Ezekiel Elliott is the RB24. His points per game have dropped by 45%, down to 12.3. However, it’s not due to a lack of volume.
Elliott has 110 carries for 420 yards during the span while adding 19 receptions on 28 targets for 101 yards.
The difference is the lack of scoring and stagnant offense. Elliott has yet to rush for a touchdown since Week 5. He has one touchdown (Week 11 vs. Minnesota) in his last seven games.
It’s not that Tony Pollard has been stealing his work either. Pollard is the RB49 during this period.
The issue is an offense that couldn’t score with the ball or hold onto it. Andy Dalton was rough and then suffered a concussion. The QB combo of Ben DiNucci and Garrett Gilbert did nothing to help jumpstart the offense.
However, over the last three weeks, Dalton has seemed more like the QB we expected, and it has given some life back into this offense. While Ezekiel Elliot’s injury won’t help anything, the matchup against the Bengals is one that fantasy managers should be excited about.
In Week 14, Ezekiel Elliott if a low-end RB1 with upside vs. Cincinnati
If Elliott can have a “normal” fantasy playoffs, you will quickly forget about the mid-season struggles. Starting in Week 14, he has a shot at getting off on the right foot.
While the Bengals come in as the 18th-ranked team in fantasy points allowed to running backs (23.31), that doesn’t paint the full picture. The Bengals are one of just three teams who allow over five yards or more per carry to RBs. Thru 12 games, they allowed 118.75 yards rushing but have only allowed seven touchdowns on the season—one in every 40.7 rushing attempts. This includes faced 61 red-zone rushing attempts and 30 goal-to-go attempts.
Luckily, Elliott will see plenty of looks in close. He leads the league with 18 carries inside the five-yard line. Through 12 games, the Bengals have allowed eight different running backs to finish as the RB9 or better against them.
Last week, even with a calf injury, Ezekiel Elliott still managed 95 yards against a solid Baltimore defense. He could easily have a similar showing on Sunday with a shot to getting an elusive rushing touchdown. The talent and upside are there. We need Andy Dalton to show out in his revenge game against the team that drafted him and spent nine years in the black and orange.
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Tommy Garrett is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can read more of his work here and follow him at @TommygarrettPFN on Twitter.