switz
Footballguy
It seems to me that a lot of people keep asking what happened to Marion Barber last year. Some are excusing his season due to a foot injury, others due to Romo's injury... here's a review...
Note: I'm focusing on his running, not receiving. He did very well in the receiving department.
So let's see...
In games where he was a) healthy, and b) Romo was playing, he underperformed the average RB 4 out of 7 times. His YPC in those 7 games was 3.7, the teams he played against allow on average 3.9 YPC. It's hard to argue that the reason he underperformed on the season was due to inuries, either his own or Romo's.
In fact, his best game rushing came when Romo was out. The two other teams Barber played while Romo was out were allowing 4.0 and 4.3 respectively, so one might argue in those games they were able to tee off against the run, but that only eliminates 2 out of 11 games prior to the foot injury.
It's also interesting to note that in most games, the "other" RB, whether it was Choice or Jones, outperformed Barber. I tend to discount Choice's success a little bit because he was fresh late in the season. But still, looking at how he did against common opponents (i.e. NYG and PHI) to Barber earlier in the season doesn't speak well for Barber.
Obviously, you have to disregard weeks 14-17 when projecting Barber for this season, as he was very injured. Prior to that he rushed for 870 yards, on 225 carries, at a clip of 3.9 YPC. In those first 11 games he saw more carries than he had in any season in his career. It's clear IMO that the higher workload was the primary reason for his decreased effectiveness in those games, not anything else.
Anyone have a different take?
Note: I'm focusing on his running, not receiving. He did very well in the receiving department.
Code:
WK Opp G GS Att Yds Avg TD Comments
1 @ CLE 1 1 16 80 5.0 2 (left early with bruised ribs, Jones averaged 6.9 YPC in this game)
2 PHI 1 1 18 63 3.5 1 (PHI allowed 3.5 YPC on avg to opposing RBs, Jones averaged 3.3 YPC in this game but only had 3 carries)
3 @ GB 1 1 28 142 5.1 1 (GB had horrible rush defense, allowed 4.6 YPC on avg, Jones averaged 12.7 YPC in this game)
4 WAS 1 1 8 26 3.3 0 (WAS allowed 3.8 on avg to opposing RBs)
5 CIN 1 1 23 84 3.7 0 (CIN allowed 3.9 on avg to opposing RBs, Jones averaged 10.7 YPC in this game)
6 @ ARI 1 1 17 45 2.6 0 (ARI allowed 4.0 on avg to opposing RBs, Jones averaged 7.3 YPC in this game)
7 @ STL 1 1 18 100 5.6 1 (Romo out)
8 TB 1 1 25 71 2.8 0 (Romo out)
9 @ NYG 1 1 19 54 2.8 0 (Romo out)
11 @ WAS 1 1 24 114 4.8 1 (WAS allowed 3.8 on avg to opposing RBs)
12 SF 1 1 19 59 3.1 0 (SF allowed 3.8 on avg to opposing RBs)
13 SEA 1 1 10 32 3.2 1 (left game with foot injury, Choice averaged 5.2 YPC)
14 @ PIT 0 0 -- -- -- -- (missed gamed with foot injury)
15 NYG 1 1 8 2 0.3 0 (playing with foot injury, Choice averaged 10.1 YPC)
16 BAL 1 0 2 0 0.0 0 (playing with foot injury, Choice averaged 5.3 YPC)
17 @ PHI 1 0 3 13 4.3 0 (playing with foot injury, Choice averaged 4.3 YPC)In games where he was a) healthy, and b) Romo was playing, he underperformed the average RB 4 out of 7 times. His YPC in those 7 games was 3.7, the teams he played against allow on average 3.9 YPC. It's hard to argue that the reason he underperformed on the season was due to inuries, either his own or Romo's.
In fact, his best game rushing came when Romo was out. The two other teams Barber played while Romo was out were allowing 4.0 and 4.3 respectively, so one might argue in those games they were able to tee off against the run, but that only eliminates 2 out of 11 games prior to the foot injury.
It's also interesting to note that in most games, the "other" RB, whether it was Choice or Jones, outperformed Barber. I tend to discount Choice's success a little bit because he was fresh late in the season. But still, looking at how he did against common opponents (i.e. NYG and PHI) to Barber earlier in the season doesn't speak well for Barber.
Obviously, you have to disregard weeks 14-17 when projecting Barber for this season, as he was very injured. Prior to that he rushed for 870 yards, on 225 carries, at a clip of 3.9 YPC. In those first 11 games he saw more carries than he had in any season in his career. It's clear IMO that the higher workload was the primary reason for his decreased effectiveness in those games, not anything else.
Anyone have a different take?
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And this thread isn't about Jones, or Choice... it's about Barber. I only included them as a comparison - maybe an imperfect comparison, so then use the average RB against common opponents which I included as well.
And this thread isn't about Jones, or Choice... it's about Barber. I only included them as a comparison - maybe an imperfect comparison, so then use the average RB against common opponents which I included as well.
I think this is how it will pan out as well..