Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard may be about to be asked to step up even more, especially as Ezekiel Elliott battles a knee problem that has some here inside The Star suggesting Elliott might sit out Thursday's game at New Orleans.
So there is buzz around the NFL about a larger role for Pollard ... and at least in one corner of the internet, there is buzz about ... Pollard being on his way out of Dallas?
Pollard’s name is included in a complimentary way as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler attempted to find out the league’s consensus on the best NFL duos at running back. Fowler writes that "he polled execs, scouts and coaches around the NFL to attempt to find consensus on the league’s best duos'' ...
So far so good.
The Browns received the most votes at running back with their tandem of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. The Cowboys also received votes for Elliott and Pollard. But then the conversation hit a roadblock, because, Fowler writes, an NFL scout predicted Pollard will “do well in free agency.”
“Pollard should do well in free agency,” the AFC scout told ESPN. “He can be an 800-to-1,000-yard rusher for someone.”
Fine and well and maybe true ... someday. Unfortunately for the "AFC scout,'' and for any NFL team that covets the elusive Pollard, he won't "do well in free agency'' because he isn't a free agent.
Pollard, 24, has this season and one more under contract with Dallas, all part of his four-year, $3.1 million rookie contract.
There are countless decisions to be made and countless paths to be navigated before the Cowboys have to concern themselves with who will be Zeke's "heir,'' and even who will be his backup. For now, it's about Pollard having given Dallas good production as Zeke's caddy, and maybe it's about Pollard needing to be even more than that while Elliott's knee gets some time off.
But no, "losing Tony Pollard to free agency'' is really not an issue that is creating any "buzz'' inside The Star.
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