
Running back, Ohio State, 2013–15
Ezekiel Elliott
- Number
- No. 15
- Height
- 6′0″
- Hometown
- St. Louis, MO
- Born
- Jul 22, 1995, in St. Louis, Missouri
Wikipedia readers: about 32,328 a month over the past year
Ezekiel Elliott played running back at Ohio State (2013–15). He led the 2014 national champions in rushing. He finished eighth in the 2015 Heisman vote. The Dallas Cowboys took Elliott in the first round, No. 4 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
274rushing yards, career highat Indiana, 20154rushing touchdowns, career hightwice; last vs. Notre Dame, 20157catches, career highvs. Indiana, 2014Honors
- 2014Led the national champions in rushing
- 2015Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year
- 2015Big Ten Running Back of the Year
- 2015Chicago Tribune Silver Football
- 2015First-team All-Big Ten
- 2015Eighth in the Heisman vote
Team titles: National champions, 2014; Big Ten champions, 2014
All-America: AP second team 2015
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Rushing
| Season | Team | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Ohio State | 30 | 262 | 8.7 | 2 | 57 |
| 2014 | Ohio State | 273 | 1,878 | 6.9 | 18 | 85 |
| 2015 | Ohio State | 289 | 1,821 | 6.3 | 23 | 80 |
| Career | 592 | 3,961 | 6.7 | 43 | 85 | |
Receiving
| Season | Team | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Ohio State | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 1 | 11 |
| 2014 | Ohio State | 28 | 220 | 7.9 | 0 | 22 |
| 2015 | Ohio State | 27 | 206 | 7.6 | 0 | 30 |
| Career | 58 | 449 | 7.7 | 1 | 30 | |
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Ht |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Ohio State | 15 | RB | |
| 2014 | Ohio State | 15 | RB | |
| 2015 | Ohio State | 15 | RB | 6′0″ |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Per play
| Season | Team | Plays | EPA/play | Pctile | Median | Total | Usage | Adj. rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Ohio State | 30 | 0.39 | – | – | 11.8 | 7% | – |
| 2014 | Ohio State | 304 | 0.38 | 98th (n=253) | 0.12 | 114.0 | 27% | 0.52 |
| 2015 | Ohio State | 318 | 0.35 | 97th (n=268) | 0.12 | 111.1 | 36% | 0.41 |
Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). Adjusted pass and rush: EPA per play adjusted for the defenses faced (CollegeFootballData’s WEPA). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.
Game by game
2015 Ohio State 13 games, 1,821 rushing yards, 23 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Yds | TD | Long | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7 | at | W 42–24 | 11 | 122 | 1 | 80 | 2 | 16 |
| Sep 12 | vs. | W 38–0 | 27 | 101 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 19 | vs. | W 20–13 | 23 | 108 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 6 |
| Sep 26 | vs. | W 38–12 | 16 | 124 | 1 | 26 | 3 | 29 |
| Oct 3 | at | W 34–27 | 23 | 274 | 3 | 75 | 2 | 12 |
| Oct 10 | vs. | W 49–28 | 21 | 106 | 2 | 19 | 6 | 47 |
| Oct 17 | vs. | W 38–10 | 27 | 153 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 21 |
| Oct 24 | at | W 49–7 | 19 | 142 | 2 | 55 | 3 | 29 |
| Nov 7 | vs. | W 28–14 | 26 | 114 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 9 |
| Nov 14 | at | W 28–3 | 27 | 181 | 2 | 17 | – | – |
| Nov 21 | vs. | L 14–17 | 12 | 33 | 1 | 7 | – | – |
| Nov 28 | at | W 42–13 | 30 | 214 | 2 | 66 | 2 | 7 |
| Jan 1 ✦ | vs. | W 44–28 | 27 | 149 | 4 | 47 | 1 | 30 |
2014 Ohio State 15 games, 1,878 rushing yards, 18 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Yds | TD | Long | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. | W 34–17 | 12 | 44 | 1 | 20 | – | – |
| Sep 6 | vs. | L 21–35 | 8 | 32 | 1 | 15 | – | – |
| Sep 13 | vs. | W 66–0 | 7 | 65 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 52 |
| Sep 27 | vs. | W 50–28 | 28 | 182 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 51 |
| Oct 4 | at | W 52–24 | 24 | 139 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 6 |
| Oct 18 | vs. | W 56–17 | 12 | 69 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 28 |
| Oct 25 | at | W 31–24 | 26 | 109 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 7 |
| Nov 1 | vs. | W 55–14 | 9 | 69 | 0 | 22 | 1 | −1 |
| Nov 8 | at | W 49–37 | 23 | 154 | 2 | 47 | – | – |
| Nov 15 | at | W 31–24 | 18 | 91 | 0 | 22 | 2 | 19 |
| Nov 22 | vs. | W 42–27 | 13 | 107 | 1 | 65 | 7 | 39 |
| Nov 29 | vs. | W 42–28 | 17 | 121 | 2 | 44 | 1 | 7 |
| Dec 6 | vs. | W 59–0 | 20 | 220 | 2 | 81 | – | – |
| Jan 1 ✦ | vs. | W 42–35 | 20 | 230 | 2 | 85 | 1 | 13 |
| Jan 12 ✦ | vs. | W 42–20 | 36 | 246 | 4 | 33 | 1 | −1 |
2013 Ohio State 7 games, 262 rushing yards, 2 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Yds | TD | Long | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | vs. | W 40–20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – |
| Sep 7 | vs. | W 42–7 | 6 | 36 | 0 | 11 | – | – |
| Sep 21 | vs. | W 76–0 | 14 | 162 | 2 | 57 | – | – |
| Oct 5 | at | W 40–30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – |
| Oct 26 | vs. | W 63–14 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 10 | – | – |
| Nov 2 | at | W 56–0 | 5 | 37 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 23 |
| Nov 23 | vs. | W 42–14 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | – | – |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2016 |
|---|---|
| Height | 5′11¾″ |
| Weight | 225 lb |
| Arm length | 31¼″ |
| Hand size | 10¼″ |
| Wingspan | 75⅜″W |
| 40-yard dash | 4.47 s |
| 10-yard split | 1.50 sW |
| Vertical jump | 32½″ |
| Broad jump | 9′10″ |
Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
9 seasons, 135 games with a stat; latest team: Los Angeles Chargers.
Pro Bowls: 3 (2016, 2018–19) · First-team All-Pro (AP): 2016 · Second-team All-Pro (AP): 2018
All-Pro teams: AP first team 2016; AP second team 2018; Pro Football Writers first team 2016, 2018; Sporting News first team 2016.
| Season | Team | G | Car | Yds | TD | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dallas Cowboys | 15 | 322 | 1,631 | 15 | 32 | 363 |
| 2017 | Dallas Cowboys | 10 | 242 | 983 | 7 | 26 | 269 |
| 2018 | Dallas Cowboys | 15 | 304 | 1,434 | 6 | 77 | 567 |
| 2019 | Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 301 | 1,357 | 12 | 54 | 420 |
| 2020 | Dallas Cowboys | 15 | 244 | 979 | 6 | 52 | 338 |
| 2021 | Dallas Cowboys | 17 | 237 | 1,002 | 10 | 47 | 287 |
| 2022 | Dallas Cowboys | 15 | 231 | 876 | 12 | 17 | 92 |
| 2023 | New England Patriots | 17 | 184 | 642 | 3 | 51 | 313 |
| 2024 | Dallas Cowboys | 15 | 74 | 226 | 3 | 12 | 69 |
| NFL career | 135 | 2,139 | 9,130 | 74 | 368 | 2,718 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0), matched to him by his draft pick and college (Player ids: DynastyProcess (GPL-3.0)). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
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