Dez Bryant Predicts Ezekiel Elliott Will Break Rookie Rushing Record

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott leads the NFL with 703 rushing yards through his first six games, but teammate Dez Bryant thinks the rookie is just scratching the surface of his potential.

"Yeah, I believe it. Two thousand or more," Bryant said when giving his prediction for Elliott's year-end rushing yardage total, per Charean Williams of the Star-Telegram.

That would give the Ohio State product the all-time NFL rookie rushing record, which Eric Dickerson set in 1983 with 1,808 yards.

Williams noted Elliott already became the first rookie to tally 130-plus yards on the ground in four straight games when he gashed the Green Bay Packers for 157 yards on 28 carries on Sunday.

He ran for 140 yards against the Chicago Bears, 138 against the San Francisco 49ers and 134 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Elliott deflected the praise in the midst of his impressive stretch, per Williams: "I’ve got to thank my O-line and those guys. They work their tails off, and they make it easy for me. I just have to go out there and compete and run the ball."

Elliott has a point, as Football Outsiders ranks Dallas’ offensive line as the No. 1 run-blocking unit in the league this season. The Cowboys line allowed Darren McFadden to record 1,089 rushing yards a season ago after he tallied a combined 913 yards on the ground in his previous two years with the Oakland Raiders, and Elliott has taken advantage of the holes his teammates have opened.

Despite Elliott's incredible start to the year, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk pointed out the rookie is on pace to fall short of Bryant’s prediction with 1,875 yards. That would still break the rookie rushing record, but it wouldn’t put him in the 2,000-yard stratosphere with some of the best to ever play the game, including Dickerson, Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson.

Pro-Football-Reference.com has the seven-player list:

Season	Player	Yards
1984	Eric Dickerson, Los Angeles Rams	2,105
2012	Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings	2,097
2003	Jamal Lewis, Baltimore Ravens	2,066
1997	Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions	2,053
1998	Terrell Davis, Denver Broncos	2,008
2009	Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans	2,006
1973	O.J. Simpson, Buffalo Bills	2,003

Smith noted Elliott would have to average at least 130 rushing yards per game the rest of the way to reach 2,000 before the season ends.

That may prove to be too difficult of a task, but the rookie, who is 116 yards ahead of No. 2-ranked LeSean McCoy, would likely settle for the rushing title and Dallas’ second playoff berth since the 2009 season after a 5-1 start.