La'el Collins' Reported Suspension Is More Bad News for Ezekiel Elliott

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott cannot catch a break. 

After the Cowboys lost guard Zack Martin for the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it was reported that starting tackle La’el Collins would be suspended five games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

This hurts the Cowboys as a whole, but Elliott, who saw just 11 carries in Thursday night’s opener, is getting the brunt of it. Elliott ran for just 33 yards in Week 1 while the Cowboys attempted 58 passes, and there’s a chance that becomes more of the norm if the offensive line stays this depleted. 

The Cowboys are +1600 to win the NFC this season at WynnBET, which is good for the sixth-best odds in the conference, but it’s hard to see them winning playoff games, or even the division, without Elliott being involved. 

Collins injury doesn’t take Zeke out of the game plan, but it certainly raises concerns for his effectiveness. 

Last season, Elliott averaged just 4.0 yards per carry (the lowest average of his career) and failed to reach 1,000 yards despite playing 15 games. He finished the season with 979 yards, but he put up 983 yards back in 2017 in just 10 games. 

Elliott’s decline has been a combination of not having Prescott at quarterback for the majority of the 2020 season and offensive line issues. If Martin misses more than just this one game and Collins reportedly is guaranteed to be out for five games, that’s going to delay a Zeke breakout even more. 

Dak Prescott was almost able to will the Cowboys to a win on Thursday, but he won’t be able to do that every week this season. Elliott needs to find his old form, or the offensive line needs to improve otherwise the Cowboys are going to be looking at having one of the NFL’s most one-dimensional offenses this season.

Is Ezekiel Elliott a fade candidate the next few weeks? Make your pick on the WynnBET app.