Ezekiel Elliott earning rave reviews from Cowboys teammates

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will enter his rookie season with arguably the highest expectations for any player in recent memory.

Not only is Elliott already considered an odds-on favorite for Rookie of the Year honors, but many envision him stepping into the Cowboys' offense and propelling it - with the help of the healthy duo of Dez Bryant and Tony Romo - into the league's best unit.

While Elliott has yet to even set foot on an NFL field, his new teammates have quickly come to realize the hype surrounding the 20-year-old is well deserved.

"I think the last two weeks being out there with those teaching sessions with him, it's impressive how he's gone about it," tight end Jason Witten said, according to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "You can tell that he's polished; he's smooth. You don't want to overanalyze it yet. We're not even in pads. But I think everyone is working the right way. I think he's going to come in and be a tremendous asset to our football team."

Elliott signed his four-year, $24.9-million rookie deal Wednesday, which made him the ninth highest-paid player at his position.

"It seems like he's picking things up pretty quickly, which is what you like to see," center Travis Frederick said. "Early on, you see a mistake here or there, and you see less and less throughout time. So hopefully, once we get into OTAs, we can start seeing in a team atmosphere, we can really get a good evaluation."

Dallas was one of the most complete and balanced offenses in 2014, with DeMarco Murray leading the league in rushing. However, with Murray's departure and injuries to Romo and Bryant, their offense fell off a cliff last season, ranking 22nd in the league in yards per game.

While Witten said the Cowboys will have significant work to do in order to recapture that 2014 form, he believes the team has the personnel to replicate it.

"I think there's a recipe that we're trying to do offensively," Witten said. "I think we have to be cautious. This season doesn't just pick up where we were there in that year that we had. You have to earn that. I think that's a little bit of a trap for us to think in that mindset. So we feel like we have plenty enough guys to do it. Now, we have to start that process of coming together as a football team, and that's where I'm excited (to be a part of it)."