Ezekiel Elliott on record-setting pace through six games

By Josh Alper for NBC Sports.

There’s been plenty of focus on the quarterback position through the first six games of the Cowboys season thanks to the way Dak Prescotthas stepped up into the job with Tony Romoinjured and that focus will continue as Romo nears clearance from his back injury in the coming weeks.

Whether Prescott, Romo or Roger Staubach is under center the rest of the way, the Cowboys can rest pretty easy with the support they’ll get from running back Ezekiel Elliott. The fourth overall pick in April went for 157 yards on 28 carries against the Packers on Sunday and ended the day as the NFL’s leading rusher with 703 yards on 137 carries.

Those 703 yards are the second-most by a rookie in their first six games. Eric Dickerson is the only back to hit the league with more success and Elliott’s 117.2 yards per game average puts him on pace to finish with 1,875 yards, which would leave him with more yards than Dickerson had in 1983.

Obviously Dickerson’s pace slowed over his rookie year, but Elliott has actually been picking up steam. Sunday was his season high and he’s now gained at least 134 yards in each of the last four games, which makes him the first rookie to run for at least 130 yards over a four-game stretch in NFL history.

Elliott drowned his offensive linemen in praise after the game and that unit is a big part of Elliott’s success. Elliott’s doing plenty of work on his own as well, which has the arrow pointing up for both him and the Cowboys now and in the future.