Ezekiel Elliott believes the Dallas Cowboys’ season could be special. Here’s why
Training camp officially ended for the Dallas Cowboys on Monday. Final cuts are set for Saturday.
But the focus is firmly on the Sept. 13 season opener at the Los Angeles Rams.
And there is real excitement among the Cowboys players that this season has the makings of something special, led by new coach Mike McCarthy and host of veteran free-agent additions on defense to go along with the holdovers from an offense that ranked No. 1 in the league a year ago.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott, a two-time NFL rushing champ, said the team is ready to get rolling.
Elliott is most excited about the talent and depth, especially with additions of former Pro Bowlers Everson Griffen and Aldon Smith at defensive end, Dontari Poe at nose tackle and rookie top pick CeeDee Lamb joining Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup at receiver.
Elliott, picked fourth overall in 2016, said no Cowboys team of the past four years has boasted as much talent as they will in 2020.
“This is probably the most talented team I’ve been on,” Elliott said. “Just look at the depth chart, look at the roster, look at how many Pro Bowlers, how many All-Pro guys we have out there. And I mean I think it’s the best.”
Elliott has a kindred spirit in always-positive Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“I do see a talented group of players here,” Jones said on his radio show. “I do see the right mix of the younger players and some experience. We’ve added some real talent with the draft and, frankly, in the off-season. So, I think that is going to actually be as good as I can remember when we brought talent to the field.”
McCarthy is not ready to make any bold proclamations about the talent. But he feels good about the team and already acknowledged that winning the Super Bowl is the goal.
“If you’re not trying to win a Super Bowl, I don’t know what you’re even doing in this business,” McCarthy said. “The ones that don’t talk about it are probably trying to under-promise, overachieve.
“But I’ve always been very upfront about it with every team I’ve ever coached. We’re in this to win a championship. Make no bones about it.”
His focus is getting ready for the season opener against the Rams with the installation of game plans and competitive work against possible schemes.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of the preseason has created some challenges, especially for a new staff getting adjusted to new players.
“I would say we’re on target,” McCarthy said. “I think you have to be practical about the challenges all of us have gone through. It’s just not a normal year. You have a lot of measurables from my past experience being a head coach, you have measurables that exist from the past experience of the players here. We look at those each and every day so I feel like I have a really good handle on where each player is that we have history with. We’re getting close to being ready for the Rams.”
