With the New England Patriots back on the prowl for accoladed rushing antics, it's invoking the memories of a former Cincinnati Bengal's previous arrival.
While the signing of former Dallas Cowboys rusher Ezekiel Elliott isn't the cake-topping move that adding Corey Dillon was 19 years earlier, it's still easy to draw comparisons: both arrive in Foxborough after personally lucrative but championship-devoid tenures with their original NFL employers came to an end on a sour note.
Dillon, brought over in a trade, was the one bright note of the turn-of-the-century Bengals but his final year featured only 541 yards due to injury. Elliott was slightly luckier, going to the playoffs with Dallas a few times but his final starred season saw him lose the primary carries to Tony Pollard.
Bringing Dillon in was the Patriots' final move toward their first iteration of a new-century football dynasty, as a career-best 1,635 yards during the 2004 season elevated New England to their third Vince Lombardi Trophy hoist in four seasons. NFL Network's Kyle Brandt, however, advises Patriots fans that prior results don't guarantee a similar outcome with Elliott.
“It lends itself to one of those Bill Belichick reclamation projects, where you take someone at the end of their career and turn them into a star,” Brandt said on a "Good Morning Football" panel this week. “Corey Dillon, at the same point in his career, had 1,600 yards. I hope that happens. The Zeke thing is fun, because he’s very famous, and it’s Belichick and just seeing his face behind that logo is really strange.
“But you turn on the Cowboys games and there hasn’t been a lot. His yards per carry is very low. There just hasn’t been a lot of juice and he goes behind a very good offensive line and a very good offense. I don’t think this is going to light up the sky in New England. I’m not reordering my playoff predictions because they got Ezekiel Elliott in 2023. I think he’s a really good short-yardage back, I think he is good in blitz pickup.”
When Elliott's ready to take the field with the Patriots, it's widely expected that he'll, at the very least, be sharing the top attempts with returning four-digit rusher Rhamondre Stevenson. Despite his struggles and not even putting on his New England helmet yet, Elliott is perhaps the most consistent offensive weapon on the current roster alongside Stevenson.
Alas, that perhaps says more about the Patriots' offense than anyone associated with the team would care to openly admit.
New England alum and Brandt's fellow panelist Devin McCourty tried to keep optimism alive, claiming that the Patriots responded to endless beseechers who demanded the team do something to improve the offense. Elliott's reduced stats and the aerial question marks, however, are too glaring to engage in full-on loyalty.
“It’s exciting. You were waiting to see the Patriots to do something,” McCourty said. “Ezekiel Elliott, Rhamondre Stevenson, that is a really good backfield tandem. I think the question marks in New England are more, what are they going to do in the passing game with Mac Jones and things of that nature?”
Though Elliott probably won't make his debut, the Patriots' first game of the "Zeke" era unofficially lands on Saturday when they face the Green Bay Packers in an exhibition game on the road (8 p.m. ET, WBZ).
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