Why Ezekiel Elliott will go over his rushing yards total in 2020

Ezekiel Elliott had another dominate NFL season in 2019 despite skipping the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp amid a contract holdout. He agreed to sign a six-year, $90 million extension with Dallas a mere four days before its season opener. Elliot ended up rushing for 1,357 yards and 12 scores on 301 carries.

Elliott has been one of the best running backs in the NFL since he turned pro, and he’s expected to continue producing at a high level. DraftKings Sportsbook has his 2020 over/under for total rushing yards set a 1275.5, and we think he should reach that mark.

Prediction: Over 1275.5

Elliott has tallied more than 300 carries and 1,300 rushing yards three of his four seasons with the Cowboys. The only time he didn’t was in 2017, when he notched 242 carries for 983 yards after missing the first six games of the season because of a suspension. There’s no reason to believe Elliott should get less carries in 2020. In fact, he appears likely to exceed the 301 tallied last year.

Elliott is expected to be a part of training camp this offseason now that his contract is sorted out, which could help him get off to a stronger start. Dak Prescott is coming off a career year, but it’ll be hard to match the 4,902 yards he threw for in 2019, which ranked second in the NFL. Randall Cobb had 828 receiving yards last year but has now joined the Houston Texans. A less dynamic receiving corps could mean more work for Elliott. If he gets 300 carries in 2020 while maintaining his career average of 4.6 yards per carry, he’ll be just under 1,400 rushing yards next season. I like the odds of that happening.

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