Marshall Faulk thinks Dallas drafting Leighton Vander Esch implies paying Jaylon Smith was a mistake

There are a lot of takes flying around the world when it comes to Ezekiel Elliott. When there’s a matter of this significance to tend to, everybody has an opinion.

This of course includes Pro Football Hall of Famers. Marshall Faulk has been training Ezekiel Elliott in Cabo recently and in light of that he made an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show (which you can watch every day from 9am to 12pm ET on DIRECTV Ch. 239) to discuss the NFL’s reigning rushing champion.

Perhaps the most interesting thing Faulk said was with regards to how Elliott looks these days. Asked if Zeke could play a game this weekend for example, he sort of said yes and no.

“Play... yes. Play at a high level... yes. But I would say, you possibly run the risk, as any player would who was not in game condition shape, if you tried to play him the workload that the Cowboys use him. I don’t think he’s in that form that he could go out and do the things that we’re accustomed to seeing him do for a whole game.”

It’s certainly interesting to hear about the shape that Elliott is in while in Cabo. The Cowboys play a game less than two weeks from now so obviously it would be great if he was ready to roll. He sounds like he might be, he just might not be in the best shape possible.

Faulk had a really bad take on Jaylon Smith though

The HOF running back spoke to Dan Patrick for about 15 minutes so he said a lot of things. Among the things Faulk discussed was perhaps the worst possible take that you could have when it comes to the sport of football. Marshall not only questioned how much recently-signed Jaylon Smith is worth to the team but he also implied that the fact that Dallas drafted Leighton Vander Esch a year ago is enough proof that Smith getting paid is suspect altogether.

“If you think about this. And I’m not counting another man’s money. But if you think about what Jaylon Smith did and what he got, compared to what Zeke has done and what he is asking for... it’s not even close. It’s not even close! They drafted a linebacker in the first round last year. If they thought so much of Jaylon, I mean, you draft another linebacker in the first round?”

Does Marshall Faulk know that there is more than one linebacker on a football field at any given time? He made a lot of them miss throughout the course of his illustrious career so perhaps they were all just blurs to him, but how could someone possibly think this?

What’s more is the Vander Esch pick was about Sean Lee more than it was about anyone. It had absolutely nothing to do with Smith not being a worthy player for the Cowboys, in fact it almost justified it considering the Cowboys thought LVE and Smith could be a tandem for years for the team.

Marshall Faulk shares an agent with Ezekiel Elliott but is obviously closely attached to the Cowboys running back considering he’s training him these days. It’s not a good look that Faulk is saying something like this about Zeke’s teammate, not a good look at all.