Dak Prescott has been impressive through five games, but he might not be the best rookie in his own backfield.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott has mowed over defenders, blown past would-be tacklers and plowed through defenses like a brush hog going through an overgrown field.
Elliott is so good he has receivers admitting out loud that it is fun to block for him.
"Zeke is a monster, like a real-life monster," Cowboys receiver Terrance Williams said, via the Dallas Morning News. "Somebody to be that young and to come in here and run the ball like that, it makes me want to block because I know what he's going to do. He's going to finish or just like (Sunday), he can pop it.
"So whenever you have a guy like that, that makes blocking fun. You're not just going out there to block to just catch wind. Now you're going out there to block because you have a guy who can take over a game."
Elliott took over Sunday's romp over the Cincinnati Bengals, taking 15 carries for 134 rushing yards, two touchdowns and 8.9 yards per tote.
Behind a road-grading offensive line, the rookie runner has seen his yards per carry increase each week:
Week 1: 2.6
Week 2: 4.0
Week 3: 4.7
Week 4: 6.0
Week 5: 8.9
After a slow start to the season, Elliott has become a more patient runner, waiting for the hole to open, then blasting into the open field.
Zeke's 546 yards rushing are the fourth-most by a rookie through the first five games of the season. Each of the three players above him on the list won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors (Eric Dickerson, 645 yards; Adrian Peterson, 607 yards; Billy Sims, 560 yards).
Elliott is on pace for 349 carries, 1,747 rushing yards, and 16 touchdowns. If he met those projections, he'd earn the second-most rushing yards and second-most rushing TDs by a rookie in the Super Bowl era, behind only Dickerson's 1,808 yards and 18 rushing scores.
Skeptics scoffed when the Cowboys drafted Elliott No. 4 overall out of Ohio State. The critics are silent now.
