Stephen Jones: Ezekiel Elliott is a top-10 pick

There has been plenty of speculation about Ezekiel Elliott being the Dallas Cowboys’ choice with the fourth overall pick.

The Ohio State running back would add another play-making talent to an offense that needs more, as owner Jerry Jones said. And Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones feels strongly about Elliott being among the best players in this draft class.

“He’s worthy of being in the top-10 for sure,” Stephen Jones said on Monday at a pre-draft news conference. “Where we ultimately end up with him is still a work in progress. He’s obviously a very quality-type player and seems like he’s pretty much universally looked at as a guy who deserves to be in that category.”

The question, though, is whether the Cowboys have more pressing needs on the defensive side of the ball, and if a running back is worthy of being a top-five pick in today’s NFL.

The league has placed a premium on quarterbacks, pass rushers and cornerbacks, as running backs have become more dispensable. The Cowboys weren’t willing to spend big money to keep DeMarco Murray after his record-setting season in 2014, and have shown they can have success with a committee approach behind their offensive line.

Darren McFadden had the fourth-most rushing yards in the league last season with 1,089 despite opening the season as the No. 2 option behind Joseph Randle. And the team acquired Alfred Morris and re-signed Lance Dunbar already this offseason.

But Elliott may be too special for the Cowboys to pass up. He posted consecutive 1,800-plus yard rushing seasons the past two years for Ohio State, and is viewed as a complete back with blocking and receiving ability.

“We’re proud of the veterans we’ve got,” Jerry Jones said. “We think they can get the job done. The idea of having a top talent there that you know how much it’s going to be involved and all that goes to it, you know all of that can change what is very obvious, and running backs have been diminished.

“There is another way to look at it. You look at it at what will ultimately be the biggest impact on your team. Just because we didn’t do Murray, just because we have running back by committee, just because we have veterans as we’ve said, doesn’t mean at all that we’re not in the running back business.”

The Cowboys clearly could have used another play-maker a season ago. With Tony Romo and Dez Bryant injured much of the season, the Cowboys’ offense lacked a home-run threat.

“We’d like more,” Jerry Jones said.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Stephen Jones: Ezekiel Elliott is a top-10 pick."