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Just a few weeks ago Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey let his opinions on just about everybody be known, and it turns out he doesn’t mind Dak Prescott or Ezekiel Elliott.
Both Dak and Zeke share a common denominator with Ramsey in that they are all of the same NFL age. All three are products of the 2016 NFL Draft with Zeke going just one pick ahead of Ramsey at fourth overall to the Cowboys.
The Ramsey versus Zeke debate of 2016 was an interesting one among Cowboys fans, and it felt like things went all the way up to the moment that Dallas turned in Elliott’s card. Zeke’s fate was sealed as the beneficiary of the great Cowboys offensive line (on top of his own skills) and Ramsey would stay in the state of Florida to play for the Jaguars. That’s not what Ramsey thought would happen, though.
During an interview with ESPN’s Mina Kimes Ramsey acknowledged that he expected to be drafted by the Cowboys. What’s more is that Ramsey believes Jerry Jones specifically was the driving force behind the team, perhaps feeling different, not selecting him.
At first, Ramsey was happy to land in Jacksonville, even though he expected Dallas to take him with the No. 4 pick. (He believes that the Cowboys’ coaches wanted him but that owner Jerry Jones bigfooted them and grabbed running back Ezekiel Elliott. “I will never play for them,” he sniffs, “unless the Joneses leave.”)
The usage of “bigfooted” would definitely imply that Ramsey’s belief is that Jerry Jones flexed his muscle in order to take Zeke. There was definitely football sense to drafting Elliott, as evidenced by the Cowboys winning 13 games his rookie season while he led the league in rushing, so it’s unlikely that Jerry would have had to convince the entire room on the idea.
Perhaps one person that Jerry did have to convince was former linebackers coach and passing game coordinator Matt Eberflus. It seems Coach Flus was Team Ramsey.
My understanding is Matt Eberflus advocated for Ramsey but rest of coaching staff understood need for Elliott and positive effect he offered both sides of ball. https://t.co/anibu5jvxI
— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) August 30, 2018
Ed Werder’s tweet is framed much differently than Jerry “bigfooting” the team. It’s understandable that coaches would want Ramsey as a player (who wouldn’t?), especially defensive coaches, but it makes logical sense that they could all understand what Zeke offered them especially when the 2014 season with a great running attack was somewhat fresh in their minds.
Jalen Ramsey and the Jacksonville Jaguars will visit the Dallas Cowboys on October 14th. If the Jalen Ramsey that has shown up in all of these interviews (and his entire career before this) before this season shows up, he’s likely going to be on a mission to show Jerry Jones what he missed out on. It should be fun.