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Is it possible to express optimism without sounding optimistic? If so Womens Leighton Vander Esch Jersey , then Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones did just that on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan on Friday.Although Jones didn’t make it sound as if much progress has been made in negotiations with Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott or Amari Cooper, he hasn’t ruled out getting deals done before the start of the season.Elliott remains a holdout, working out in Cabo with Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk.It is unclear when the star running back will report to the team if a deal doesn’t get done by Sept. 8. Both sides are just hoping to have a deal done by then.“We feel confident things will get done,” Jones said on his radio show. “Things happen real quick, sometime within hours.”Jones said publicly two weeks ago that the team’s offer to Elliott was in the top-two at his position, topping Le'Veon Bell but behind Todd Gurley as Bell’s deal re-set the market. Nothing has changed since then.“I don’t think we’re close, because there’s not a lot of activity,” Jones said. “Right now I wouldn’t say that I feel anything’s imminent.”Gurley’s deal averages $14.4 million per season, while Bell’s annual average is $13.1 million.Elliott wants to become the highest-paid running back in football.But Jones reiterated Friday that the Cowboys aren’t going to be market-setters because they can’t afford to be.“We just can’t go to a place like that Michael Gallup Jersey White ,” Jones said on The Fan, via Calvin Watkins of the .So what Jones really is saying is: There is nothing new to see here. Ezekiel Elliott’s the latest Cowboys player to have his value questioned." Dallas Cowboys GeneralTrying to sum up Ezekiel Elliott’s worth requires more than analyticsNew,96commentsEzekiel Elliott’s the latest Cowboys player to have his value questioned.CDTWith rumors swirling about a potential holdout from Ezekiel Elliott, the Cowboys running back is the latest player to see his value come into question. Would the Cowboys be making a mistake paying a running back a hefty sum of money? Are the Cowboys doing it all wrong by having a team that is built through a dominating run game? Isn’t the NFL a passing league, anyways?Just as there are trends in the NFL, there are those that buck the trends, there is not one singular right way to build a winning football team. No two Super Bowl winners are going to be the same and there are many different routes to winning in the NFL. The Cowboys believe theirs is through elite offensive line play and running the football. Since bringing in Ezekiel Elliott, he’s won two rushing titles, the Cowboys have had three consecutive winning seasons, and won two division titles. Elliott is not the only contributor to that success Dak Prescott Jersey , of course, but he is certainly a big contributor. The link above is to an article written by FiveThirtyEight, where the author uses analytics to show that Ezekiel Elliott lacks in several areas. He uses last year’s production in the closing of games, short-yardage, and red zone to determine that Ezekiel Elliott is average at best in situational running, making it a mistake to make him the highest-paid running back.Though analytics are a major part of the evaluation process, there are so many aspects of football that cannot be explained by statistics. The problem with relying on something such as WPA or “Win Probability Added per rush” as it’s used regarding Elliott, is that the very creator of the metric calls it a “narrative stat”:Out of the qualifying running backs used by FiveThirtyEight, Elliott was one of three running backs to have over 40 rushes. Todd Gurley was the only back in the Top-10. Royce Freeman topped the list adding .012 per rush in WPA, that’s on 12 total carries. What are the contexts in these games where Elliott is carrying the ball to close it out? There are some fine points being made but context is always king.How well were the Cowboys’ offensive linemen playing at end of these games? We know there were ample struggles in the red zone both with blocking and playcalling. Are we sure we can make emphatic statements about Ezekiel Elliott’s value to his team without considering the other circumstances that may affect his production?We come full circle back to trends in the NFL to which the Cowboys are not like their counterparts. Dallas is committed to running the football and that means the ball is going to be in the hands of Ezekiel Elliott a lot. When arguing the value of a second contract for Zeke https://www.thecowbo...-elliott-jersey , the questions to pose have nothing to do with red zone carries, closing out games, or short-yardage running. The real question is how can the Cowboys get the most out of Ezekiel Elliott? You don’t draft a player of his ability fourth overall to be a one-trick pony. Prior to 2018, Elliott was severely underutilized and ranked 37th among running backs in receiving production. It’s documented that last year’s Cowboys made the most out of a dysfunctional offensive relationship between the players and the gameplan. One area where they did succeed was getting their best offensive player more involved. In 2018, Ezekiel Elliott finished Top-5 in targets, receptions, catch percentage, and yards per reception. Instead of picking apart individual stats though, look at where Ezekiel Elliott fits in to the Cowboys’ winning formula. That will give you all the answers you need. Ezekiel Elliott is tremendously valuable to the Cowboys offense and that’s the reason you pay the guy.