Elliott is your best pass blocking RB, so you want him in on most pass plays. This also provides reasonable misdirection when he runs a real pass pattern.
The problem last year was teams weren’t fooled at all and on top of that Elliott was out of shape, period (run or pass). Also, they threw checkdowns, not by-design plays like screens because they lacked the athletes up front to pull that off.
Forget that he’s overpaid, Elliott’s a damned good football player who can catch short, catch deep, or catch screens. That clutch over the shoulder deep sideline catch some years back for example really made an impression on me. Showed he has another dimension to him in the passing game beyond blocking, checkdowns, and screens.
The team always fails to put in first look pass plays targeting RB’s because traditionally WRs and TEs are more productive at it.
But it’s clear Zeke is different than most backs and you can target him beyond just checkdowns and screens. He’s killed more than just Pittsburgh on screens, especially to the right. Lions, 49ers— went to the house.
You can’t succeed in those plays if you don’t try them
