Ezekiel Elliott calls out players for skipping bowl games

With two running back prospects now skipping bowl games to prepare for the NFL Draft, and Ezekiel Elliott has had enough.

After an injury-plagued season, LSU running back Leonard Fournette announced last week he will skip the Citrus Bowl against Louisville so he can focus in preparing for the 2017 NFL Draft. Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey followed suit on Monday, with his own announcement he will not play in the Sun Bowl against North Carolina to do the same.

Ezekiel Elliott was the top running back in the 2016 draft class, and he was drafted fourth overall by the Dallas Cowboys. Upon the news regarding McCaffrey, he went to Twitter with some criticism.

Top NFL draft prospects this year clearly have the case of Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith firmly in mind. Smith was widely a top-five pick in early mock drafts at this time a year ago, but a severe knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State dropped him down or completely off a lot of team’s draft boards. Coincidentally, the Cowboys took Smith with the No. 34 pick last spring.

For what it’s worth, Elliott played in that Fiesta Bowl game, had a big game to finish his junior season (27 carries for 149 yards and four touchdowns) and then declared for the NFL Draft.

Outside of those that are part of the College Football Playoff, the other bowl games are mostly not memorable and without consequence in the big picture. Fournette and McCaffrey have made a business decision, and they probably won’t be the last draft prospects to skip a bowl game this year.

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It may not look great, and Elliott may not like it. But it makes sense for players that can do so to make a tough decision, and put themselves in the best position possible to get paid at the next level.