CHICAGO • It was a historic night for Ezekiel Elliott, the Ohio State University, and the St. Louis area.
You have to go all the way back to Billy Sims, drafted No. 1 overall in 1980 by Detroit, to find a St. Louis running back selected higher than Elliott.
Sims grew up in St. Louis but didn’t play his high school ball there. The University of Oklahoma star moved to Hooks, Texas, in the seventh grade. So when Elliott went No. 4 overall to Dallas, he became the highest-drafted high school running back from St. Louis since the NFL began holding these selection meetings in 1936.