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Dallas Cowboys rookie Jones making an impact
05:04 AM CDT on Monday, August 4, 2008
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OXNARD, Calif. – Marion Barber led the Dallas Cowboys with 975 yards rushing and was named to his first Pro Bowl last season despite not starting a regular-season game.
"I think last year was his year, and he proved himself," coach Wade Phillips said. "Obviously, we feel comfortable with him carrying the load. The other guys, we'll see how they fit in, but he's our bell cow."
But if early indications mean anything – and sometimes they don't in training camp – then Barber's backup, Felix Jones, might play a larger role than expected, even with his first-round pedigree.
Jones has been electric at times in training camp, showing impressive speed and vision. Running backs coach Skip Peete raved Sunday about a run Jones had made on a draw play three days prior.
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"He came through the line, and the safety started filling, and he bounced it out to the left, and no one was there," Peete said. "He got back to the huddle, and I asked him, 'How'd you know where to go? What made you do that?' He said, 'Well, Coach, I just felt the safety, based on the way the receiver was blocking, that I could get outside of that.'"
Garrett calls Jones an instinctive runner, and Jones takes almost an artistic view of things, breaking it down by jersey colors (blue on defense, white on offense).
"I just try to make a move off of the opposite colors," he said, "or if I see my color in front of me, I try to make a move off them."
Jones' 7.7 yards per carry at Arkansas is second-best in NCAA history to Army's Glenn Davis (8.26 in 1943-46). But Jones is learning that speed can only take him so far.
"Everybody has speed," Jones said. "I can't just get the ball and if there's nothing inside, go run outside. That's a big change for me. You can't really bounce it every play."
Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett does not have a set formula for how the carries will be split between the running backs. Last season, Barber averaged 12.8 carries per game, and Julius Jones, now in Seattle, averaged 10.3.
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Given his new contract (seven years, $45 million) and ability, Barber's carries should increase, but perhaps not to the level of, say, LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego. Tomlinson accounted for 72 percent of the carries made by Chargers running backs in 2007. Barber accounted for 53% of the Cowboys running backs' carries in 2007.
"You want balance between run and pass and balance among the receivers in the passing game, and if you have [multiple] runners handle the ball, that's a good thing," Garrett said. "Obviously, Marion is proven he's worthy of a lot of carries because he played last year, and we're going to continue to feature him, but we'd like to have a role for the others as well. Whatever they prove they can handle, we're going to try to give them."
Dallas Cowboys rookie Jones making an impact
05:04 AM CDT on Monday, August 4, 2008
OXNARD, Calif. – Marion Barber led the Dallas Cowboys with 975 yards rushing and was named to his first Pro Bowl last season despite not starting a regular-season game.
"I think last year was his year, and he proved himself," coach Wade Phillips said. "Obviously, we feel comfortable with him carrying the load. The other guys, we'll see how they fit in, but he's our bell cow."
But if early indications mean anything – and sometimes they don't in training camp – then Barber's backup, Felix Jones, might play a larger role than expected, even with his first-round pedigree.
Jones has been electric at times in training camp, showing impressive speed and vision. Running backs coach Skip Peete raved Sunday about a run Jones had made on a draw play three days prior.
Video
Dallas Cowboys training camp report (8/3)
08/03/2008
More Cowboys video
View larger E-mail Clip More Video Cowboys Videos
Dallas Cowboys training camp report (8/3)
Dallas Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo
Dallas Cowboys afternoon training camp report (8/1)
"He came through the line, and the safety started filling, and he bounced it out to the left, and no one was there," Peete said. "He got back to the huddle, and I asked him, 'How'd you know where to go? What made you do that?' He said, 'Well, Coach, I just felt the safety, based on the way the receiver was blocking, that I could get outside of that.'"
Garrett calls Jones an instinctive runner, and Jones takes almost an artistic view of things, breaking it down by jersey colors (blue on defense, white on offense).
"I just try to make a move off of the opposite colors," he said, "or if I see my color in front of me, I try to make a move off them."
Jones' 7.7 yards per carry at Arkansas is second-best in NCAA history to Army's Glenn Davis (8.26 in 1943-46). But Jones is learning that speed can only take him so far.
"Everybody has speed," Jones said. "I can't just get the ball and if there's nothing inside, go run outside. That's a big change for me. You can't really bounce it every play."
Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett does not have a set formula for how the carries will be split between the running backs. Last season, Barber averaged 12.8 carries per game, and Julius Jones, now in Seattle, averaged 10.3.
Dallas Cowboys / NFL
Dallas Cowboys Blog | Forum
Widgets: Dallas Cowboys Blog
Inside the Dallas Cowboys:
Archive | Subscribe
Blogs: Insider | Taylor | Cowlishaw
Photos: 7/31 | 8/1 | 8/2 | 8/3
Video: Dave Campo | Camp report
Archer: RB Jones making impact
Five on the fringe
Owens sits, Austin stands in
Cowlishaw: Opposite-field shots
Tell Us: Most unusual?
Training camp report (8/3)
Training camp schedule
More Cowboys
Given his new contract (seven years, $45 million) and ability, Barber's carries should increase, but perhaps not to the level of, say, LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego. Tomlinson accounted for 72 percent of the carries made by Chargers running backs in 2007. Barber accounted for 53% of the Cowboys running backs' carries in 2007.
"You want balance between run and pass and balance among the receivers in the passing game, and if you have [multiple] runners handle the ball, that's a good thing," Garrett said. "Obviously, Marion is proven he's worthy of a lot of carries because he played last year, and we're going to continue to feature him, but we'd like to have a role for the others as well. Whatever they prove they can handle, we're going to try to give them."
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good, ole Switz.Why's it different? Because it's your man-crush? I mean, I get the optimism, that's great, but there's NOTHING different about this and all the other coach-gush we've been reading about almost every single rookie. How quickly these posts will change in 1-2 months when people are crying that their "future stars" ended up with only 2 carries but looked great in those 2 carries and how they should be getting more looks, etc., etc., etc..
good, ole Switz.Why's it different? Because it's your man-crush? I mean, I get the optimism, that's great, but there's NOTHING different about this and all the other coach-gush we've been reading about almost every single rookie. How quickly these posts will change in 1-2 months when people are crying that their "future stars" ended up with only 2 carries but looked great in those 2 carries and how they should be getting more looks, etc., etc., etc..
I know, my enthusiasm is uninhibited, and my fandom unabashed. I have not been this high on an RB since Ladainian Tomlinson came into the league. His situation will be one in such that his carries will be limited, I ackowledge that much. But even in a limited role, I think he is really going to surprise people.
Like I said last season, my doubts about Jones are not from bad things I see him do, but from the things I don't see him do. He may be great at those things and may not have benefited from McFadden's presence or the spread offense at all. I'm just not sure. High ceiling, low floor.
Like I said last season, my doubts about Jones are not from bad things I see him do, but from the things I don't see him do. He may be great at those things and may not have benefited from McFadden's presence or the spread offense at all. I'm just not sure. High ceiling, low floor.
Uh, isn't the bold what happened at Arkansas when McFadden was at QB?
Uh, isn't the bold what happened at Arkansas when McFadden was at QB?
Uh, isn't the bold what happened at Arkansas when McFadden was at QB?
I saw a whole lot of Arkansas games over the past two seasons. He had big holes quite a bit. When he didn't, he usually didn't do as well. Hence, it wasn't on the highlights.
