David Moore has a nice analysis of the JuJo/MBIII running back combo from Friday’s DMN: Cowboys’ Jones, Barber thriving as duo.
I know a lot of Dallas fans want Marion the Barbarian to start in place of Jones, who hasn’t produced to the level that many expected when he was drafted out of Notre Dame back in ‘04. On the other hand, it may be that Dallas fans are spoiled by the fact that we’ve had Tony Dorsettt and Emmitt Smith running the ball.
Jones’ career stats are actually quite solid. Considering that he he has shared the load his 2,994 rushing yards after three years and two games is nothing to sneeze at, nor is his career 4.0 average yards per carry. Certainly he is the best starting HB Dallas has had since Emmitt moved on. (How soon we forget the Troy Hambrick era, yes?)
MBIII has two key advantages over Jones in terms of getting the fan’s attention, given that he plays mostly in the later portions of the game, when the defense is tired and near the goal line, which means a higher probability of scoring. Further, his running style is rather endearing.
Of course, if one assumes that Barber can do what he has done for part of a game for an entire, then clearly one would prefer him to Jones. However, is that a certainty? Given the two coaching staffs have decided that splitting time is best, one has to wonder if it simply isn’t clear that Barber can’t take the pounding of an entire game. This is especially compelling, given the Parcells thought he should split time, and Barber was a “Parcells’ Guy” and Barber’s father played for Parcells (of course, Parcells did draft Jones, so there’s that as well).
Ultimately, I have no problem with the two-headed attack, given that it appears to be working. As Moore notes:
If you combine the yards gained by Julius Jones and Marion Barber, the Cowboys four-legged back ranks second only to Denver’s Travis Henry in rushing.
Granted, that is only after two weeks, but not bad.