I don't think Elliott is as explosive as LT was. And while I like Elliott I just don't think he runs with as much power as you would expect from a 225 pound back. Now I don't want that to sound like the guy can't run because he certainly can. I think his quickness and change of direction is really good for a back who is 225 pounds for example. But Zeke just looks like a back who is very good at everything but not special at anything. The epitome of solid. Which behind our O-line is plenty to put up studly numbers. But I think behind an average O-line he puts up average numbers. He is not as good of a pure runner as Gurley was last year.
I think LT was a little more explosive than Elliott but not by a whole lot, I also think you undersell Elliott's power, he does not go down easily.
This is the thing, aesthetically speaking the way that stockier, squattier RB's run just looks different from how guys who are built like Gurley, Peterson, etc. run. Guys like Gurley (6-1, 222), Peterson (6-1, 217 when he came out) and Dickerson (6-3, whatever) are all tall and lean but also have speed and power, so when you see someone like that galloping about I honestly think it just looks more impressive than a stocky RB with great balance like Elliott.
Did anybody ever think Emmitt was a freak of nature? Definitely not, but the guy had unbelievable balance and vision, and also enough speed to break it at times, but would anybody here trade him for a "freak" like Eric Dickerson or Peterson?
Now, I definitely think Peterson and Gurley are more explosive/violent runners but Elliott's speed for his size is kind of underrated considering his weight. Peterson ran a 4.41 at 217 lbs at the Combine (1.57/2.60 10 and 20 split), Tomlinson ran a 4.46 at 221 (1.54/2.59 10 and 20 split) while Elliott ran a 4.47 at 225 (1.58/2.62 10 and 20 split), there isn't much difference there.
Elliott just looks a whole lot like Emmitt to me, he doesn't seem like a freak of nature but he just has a very smooth balance about him, he almost always turns 2-3 yards into 5-6 and he just looks like a guy who will always keep the offense on schedule like Emmitt did while also breaking off 20-30 yarders a couple times a game. I also can't discount how he carried them to the national title last season, while of course he was surrounded by great talent, in those two BCS playoff games he was going up against great talent in terms of Alabama (potentially 3 front 7 1st rounders this draft in Reed, Robinson and Ragland) and Oregon (Buckner/Armstead).