Four years after Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson spent weeks worrying that his single-season rushing record would be broken by Adrian Peterson, Dickerson now has seven more weekends to sweat over Ezekiel Elliott breaking Dickerson’s rookie rushing record.
Dickerson doesn’t seem to be worried.
“Zeke does a great job of picking and choosing his holes, he really does,” Dickerson said on ESPN’s SportsCenter, via USA Today. “And the offensive line, they stopped everybody at the line of scrimmage. But is he gonna break that record? No, he ain’t gonna break that record. That record’s safe.”
Currently on pace to come within 21 yards of the 1,808 mark set by Dickerson in 1983, Dickerson’s position may be rooted in wishful thinking. Unless the Cowboys wrap up the No. 1 seed with a few weeks left and then deliberately underutilize Elliott down the stretch, Elliott will continue to do the things he has been doing -- displaying an uncanny mix of power and speed that has made him well worth the fourth overall pick in the draft.
Elliott, meanwhile, hopes to break the record. Unless he doesn’t.
