Ezekiel Elliott Fantasy Football Outlook Includes Top-3 Potential in 2021

Ezekiel Elliott is one of the biggest mysteries in fantasy football. When he's right, he's undoubtedly one of the best running backs in the game. But Zeke wasn't right last year. He produced career lows across the board, ultimately finishing the year as fantasy's RB17 in PPR leagues on a per-game basis.

But fantasy managers won't get much of a discount on him this year. He currently has an average draft position (ADP) of RB7, per FantasyPros, making him a boom-or-bust option in the first round.

Ezekiel Elliott Fantasy Outlook

Last year, Elliott averaged just 87.8 yards from scrimmage per game – the worst such performance of his career. In fact, it's not even particularly close. Prior to 2020, Zeke had never averaged fewer than 111.1 yards from scrimmage per game.

The return of Dak Prescott, who missed the majority of the 2020 campaign, should theoretically boost the sixth-year back's efficiency. He was averaging 108.0 yards from scrimmage per outing over his first four games, adding 4 total TDs during that span. That's a lot more in line with what fantasy managers have come to expect, as he was the RB4 in PPR leagues in that time.

It's also worth noting that Dallas' offensive line should be much healthier and more effective than it was in 2020. Pair that with the reports about Elliott getting into excellent shape, and there's plenty of reason to believe he could return to his previous level of efficiency.

Ezekiel Eliott ADP

There's a lot to like about Elliott heading into the 2021 season. But it's hard not to feel a little nervous about drafting him in the first round given what he did last year.

Ultimately, Elliott is a boom-or-bust option this season. He's got real league-winning upside toward the backend of the first round, but it's hard to ignore his downside, too.

We've got Elliott ranked as the RB5 in PPR formats this season.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.