Ezekiel Elliott Favored to Win NFL Rushing Title

Ezekiel Elliott is set to pick up where he left off last year.

The NFL has become a passing league over the last 10 seasons. Looking back to the 2008 NFL regular season, five teams rushed the ball on over 50% of their snaps with 25 of the 32 teams rushing the ball at least 40% of their snaps.

Fast forward to last season, and Seattle was the only NFL team that ran over 50% of the time and just 14 teams ran the ball 40% or more of their snaps.

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However, having a strong ground game can make a huge difference for teams as it eats away the clock and keeps the opposing offense off the field. Odds makers have released props bets on who will lead the NFL this season in rushing and here are the top three.

Ezekiel Elliott

Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott tops the list at +250 to win the league rushing title. Zeke led the NFL in 2018 in rushing with 1,434 yards on 304 carries. The Cowboys ran the ball over 43% of their offensive snaps and Elliott is the feature player. Dallas was 6-1 in games when Elliott rushed for 100 yards or more.

The addition last midseason of Amari Cooper at wide receiver is likely to lessen the load of Elliott and his number of rushing attempts will likely fall somewhat from last season.

Saquon Barkley

New York Giants star running back Saquon Barkley has the second best odds to lead the league at +300. During his rookie season of 2018, Barkley rushed for 1,307 yards and had 721 yards receiving.

Expect much of the same from the second year back in 2019 as the Giants have little to no passing attack at wide out and rookie quarterback Daniel Jones may eventually take over at some point in the season for veteran Eli Manning.

Le’Veon Bell

New York Jets running back Le’Veon Bell has the third best odds of leading the NFL in rushing at +1100. Bell will see the ball early and often for the Jets and will have the freshest legs in football after sitting out all of the 2018 season while with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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In 2017, Bell was third in the NFL in rushing with 1,291 yards and led the league in carries with 321. Bell also caught 85 passes for 654 yards in 2017.

Odds to Lead NFL in Rushing

Ezekiel Elliott +250
Saquon Barkley +300
Le’Veon Bell +1,100
Todd Gurley +1,200
Derrick Henry +1,200