The 2015 Dallas Cowboys are a distant memory. That team is dead, giving way to a current 2016 team that started the regular season in the same circumstance that doomed 2015. No Tony Romo.
Enter Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, the pair of electrifying rookies that have taken the league by storm in leading Dallas to a 4-1 record thus far. One could argue that Elliott is merely living up to his drafted expectations, as the fourth overall pick out of Ohio State, but the rate that he has developed at is startling. Meanwhile, Dak Prescott should impress Cowboys Nation simply by completing passes, drafted as a fourth round developmental rookie.
Elliott leads the NFL in rushing with 546 yards, and Prescott has completed 69% of his passes without throwing a single interception through five weeks – leading an offense for Scott Linehan that tops the league in total first downs.
Just in! The jerseys worn by @dallascowboys @dak & @EzekielElliott. They were 1st rookies w/ 1,000 pass yds & 500 rush yds in 1st 5 games pic.twitter.com/viIXPpzRv9
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) October 12, 2016
While some fans are ready to mold busts in Canton for these two already, they will have to live with the jerseys of Prescott and Elliott reaching the Hall of Fame this early in their careers for now. As you see above, the QB and RB combo became the first rookies to hit 1,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards through five games.
With eight more completions before his first interception, Prescott will break Tom Brady’s NFL record for total passing attempts without a pick at the start of a career, another record in striking distance for the quarterDAK of America’s Team.
Elliott has topped 100 yards in three straight games, preparing to face another tough test in the Packers rush defense this week. He is on pace for 1,747 yards on the 2016 season, which means he could be in striking distance of another meaningful record – Eric Dickerson’s rookie rushing record of 1,808 yards.
These two rookies are something special, and visitors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame will now be reminded of that. More importantly, they are both individually focused on their young careers in progress, understanding that there will be much more to play for both on the field and in Canton one day.
