Emmitt Smith Comments on Ezekiel Elliott's Skills, Future in the NFL

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has received a lot of praise throughout his impressive rookie season. But he might not win the affection of a more qualified viewer than former Cowboys running back and NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith.

"I see a guy who has vision, explosion, speed and quickness," Smith told Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN.com. "I just see a guy that's poised to do great things in this league and has an offensive line that will give him an opportunity to do it. I'm loving what I'm seeing. I am inspired."

In his first 12 games, Elliott is leading the league with 1,285 yards on 263 carries and 107.1 yards per contest. He has already smashed the Cowboys' franchise mark for rookie rushing yards—Tony Dorsett's 1,007 in 1977—and he has an opportunity to break Eric Dickerson's all-time rookie mark of 1,808 yards set in 1983, per Taylor. 

Elliott broke Smith's rookie mark of 937 yards in nine games, though he still has a little over 17,000 yards to go to break the 47-year-old's rushing record.

Elliott has proved he can find the end zone, with 12 rushing touchdowns on his impressive resume, and his agility and his explosiveness as a runner have proved too much for NFL defenses to handle.

In addition to that, Smith used a moment in the fourth quarter of Dallas' Week 13 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday to teach his son. 

Elliott unleashed a jump cut that left the defense in his dust on the way to a 30-yard gain, via the NFL:

"It was a beautiful jump cut. It was beautiful," Smith said. "I used it as a tool to show my son—most people don't even know what a jump cut is—and illustrate what he did and how he got out into the open. It was a great teaching moment."

Smith, who knows a thing or two about building a successful career in the NFL, continued: "When you do things like that, it means you got excellent vision. Your vision takes you there, and then whether you use a jump cut or a sidestep depends on what you have in your arsenal. It was one hell of a move."

With less than one professional season under his belt, there's a lot that could happen. But with the way Elliott has seemingly floored one of the game's all-time greats, it's safe to assume he still has a lot left to show.

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.