Julius not cutting back...

[Paniolo22]

Anyone notice that JJ is just plowing straight ahead getting tough yards when there is clearly a lane to cut back against? I know Parcells is a preacher of not losing yards, but I think he could have a lot of longer runs if he would just use his cut backs every once in a while.

[ConstantReboot]

Yes Im noticing this. I think during the offseason they changed Julius's running style. He seems more like holding the ball with two hands and waiting for the blocks to develop. Last year, he would go full speed right into where the play was slated for, with or without any holes.

I think they need to let Julius be his old self. Sometimes NFL coaches tend to overcoach players to the point that they change the playing style of a player. Julius might have been a victum of overcoaching.

[ratpower]

Yes Im noticing this. I think during the offseason they changed Julius's running style. He seems more like holding the ball with two hands and waiting for the blocks to develop. Last year, he would go full speed right into where the play was slated for, with or without any holes.

I think they need to let Julius be his old self. Sometimes NFL coaches tend to overcoach players to the point that they change the playing style of a player. Julius might have been a victum of overcoaching.

BP is probably all over him about fumbles, he is especially holding it with two hands after he gets tagged with a fumble...

[Rack Bauer]

Anyone notice that JJ is just plowing straight ahead getting tough yards when there is clearly a lane to cut back against? I know Parcells is a preacher of not losing yards, but I think he could have a lot of longer runs if he would just use his cut backs every once in a while.


Yeah I've been noticing it too. I even mentioned it in another thread earlier. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he definitely doesn't appear to be nearly as explosive as he was last year. He's not even attempting to make some of the cuts he did last year. His power has improved, but it's at the expense of his agility/quickness. I'd rather have last year's JuJo.

[MarionBarberThe4th]

Ive noticed that, and also he doesnt want to bounce it outside at all. With his speed, he can beat most anybody to the corner ie Giants game last year week 17, but he seems to want the sure 3-5 yards instead.

[DallasDomination]

Yup this is clearly BP bad doing.


The kid has real talent dont F- it up buy over coaching.Last year he had crazy cut backs and he would improvise if the play was lost.


After watching the game again, I noticed that on some plays his good old self would come out and he would make some nice cuts.But on others he was an inmobile machine.


I hope he snaps out of this little slump he's going through.

[Nav22]

I think the big question is... how would the Cowboys be most successful? With Julius as a Barry Sanders-style back, or an Emmitt-style back?

Last year he seemed to be a Barry-like back, not in terms of eye-popping jukes necessarily, but in terms of high-risk/high-reward style running... he had a bunch of big gains, but also had a LOT of negative runs.

This year he's clearly more of a "sure-thing" runner. I don't think the 3.5 average will last the whole season, and he WILL have his share of big games. But he seems to be more Emmitt-like in his approach... as in, he'd rather get a sure 5 yards than risk a -2 yard run to try and bounce it outside for 15+ yards.

And now that I really think about it, this could also have more to do with Parcells' confidence in the passing game, and more specifically Drew Bledsoe. Last year when Julius came back, he WAS our threat on offense. So his "risky" style of running was necessary for our offense to have any kind of explosiveness. So far this year, with the way Bledsoe has been playing, Parcells may be thinking that it would be smarter to make sure to get the sure yards to set up the pass.

[MarionBarberThe4th]

The negative runs were usually a result of a draw gone wrong

[Rack Bauer]

I think the big question is... how would the Cowboys be most successful? With Julius as a Barry Sanders-style back, or an Emmitt-style back?


Right now he's running like neither of them.

[fiveandcounting]

Anyone notice that JJ is just plowing straight ahead getting tough yards when there is clearly a lane to cut back against? I know Parcells is a preacher of not losing yards, but I think he could have a lot of longer runs if he would just use his cut backs every once in a while.

I saw that once or twice, funny thing is he is being tackled for a loss anyway, at least 4 times last Sunday.

[Martice]

And now that I really think about it, this could also have more to do with Parcells' confidence in the passing game, and more specifically Drew Bledsoe. Last year when Julius came back, he WAS our threat on offense. So his "risky" style of running was necessary for our offense to have any kind of explosiveness. So far this year, with the way Bledsoe has been playing, Parcells may be thinking that it would be smarter to make sure to get the sure yards to set up the pass.

I totally agree. Parcells is all about keeping the downs manageable and not wearing out JJ. If he had confidence in any other of his backs, he may allow JJ to freelance a little more on his rushes. However, having a 3rd down and less than 5 makes our offense much more harder to stop and gives us many more options in situations like that.

As far as running styles, he does have the downhill running thing going sort of like Emmitt. It is this very style of running that allows people to make the mistake in thinking that Emmitt is not in the top 3 of backs of all time. It doesn't have a lot of ooh and aah factor but in the right system, it is very effective.

On the QT though, this is only the first half of the season. As the year goes on, teams make adjustments based on the film accumulated over time. Just looking at our roster and our other offensive possibilities, we should have a lot of room to show different looks to teams as the year goes on.

[jterrell]

I am not worried about JJ.
He is running hard and hitting holes quickly enough to bust through them.

The OL focus has been on pass blocking for obvious reasons and that has been helping the offense.

We have not run many plays with a fullback in front of JJ and its those plays where you usually see a patient runner cut back. On 1 block stuff or quicker hitting plays a guy tears through the hole.

[BoysFanInAustin]

I think it has a lot to do with defenses focused in on JJ and daring Bledsoe to beat them. I think if Drew continues to play like he has these first 3 games, the holes will open up for JJ and defenses will bring that 8th man in the box for coverage.

[adbutcher]

I am not worried about JJ.
He is running hard and hitting holes quickly enough to bust through them.

The OL focus has been on pass blocking for obvious reasons and that has been helping the offense.

We have not run many plays with a fullback in front of JJ and its those plays where you usually see a patient runner cut back. On 1 block stuff or quicker hitting plays a guy tears through the hole.
:hammer:

[Hostile]

I am not worried about JJ.
He is running hard and hitting holes quickly enough to bust through them.

The OL focus has been on pass blocking for obvious reasons and that has been helping the offense.

We have not run many plays with a fullback in front of JJ and its those plays where you usually see a patient runner cut back. On 1 block stuff or quicker hitting plays a guy tears through the hole.Right on the :money:

[DallasDomination]

I totally agree. Parcells is all about keeping the downs manageable and not wearing out JJ. If he had confidence in any other of his backs, he may allow JJ to freelance a little more on his rushes. However, having a 3rd down and less than 5 makes our offense much more harder to stop and gives us many more options in situations like that.

As far as running styles, he does have the downhill running thing going sort of like Emmitt. It is this very style of running that allows people to make the mistake in thinking that Emmitt is not in the top 3 of backs of all time. It doesn't have a lot of ooh and aah factor but in the right system, it is very effective.

On the QT though, this is only the first half of the season. As the year goes on, teams make adjustments based on the film accumulated over time. Just looking at our roster and our other offensive possibilities, we should have a lot of room to show different looks to teams as the year goes on.

I have to agree with this post for the most part.

He's running like Emmitt during the end of his prime...Patiant and slow.

[Rack Bauer]

I've seen plenty of plays where he had the cutback but decided to plow forward instead, FB in front of him or not. I've mentioned after the last 3 games that JuJo hasn't looked good in the 4th quarter. Maybe he's just not used to a full game yet. I dunno. But the opportunities HAVE been there.

[Paniolo22]

I've seen plenty of plays where he had the cutback but decided to plow forward instead, FB in front of him or not. I've mentioned after the last 3 games that JuJo hasn't looked good in the 4th quarter. Maybe he's just not used to a full game yet. I dunno. But the opportunities HAVE been there.
Did anyone catch the Skins game right after he was spelled and he came in for the final drive. He blasted through his hole for a quick 6 yd gain. I think if he get his rest a little, he can be great in the 4th. As far as his running, it was more a comment on Parcells than Jones. I've not only seen this behind the line of scrimmage, but also 5 or 6 yds down the field. He's plowing forward instead of risking something more. I just wish he would mix it up a little.

[burmafrd]

Hopefully BP sees the error of his ways and tells JJ to go with his instincts.

[Martice]

Did anyone catch the Skins game right after he was spelled and he came in for the final drive. He blasted through his hole for a quick 6 yd gain. I think if he get his rest a little, he can be great in the 4th. As far as his running, it was more a comment on Parcells than Jones. I've not only seen this behind the line of scrimmage, but also 5 or 6 yds down the field. He's plowing forward instead of risking something more. I just wish he would mix it up a little.


I agree that Julius could be a little more aggressive but at the same time, there could be so many other factors involved as to why he is not running the same as he did last year. It could be the defenses are geared to stop him as mentioned earlier, it could be the fatigue factor or it could be the fact that Bill understands that running this guy full tilt early in the season can lead to a lot of bad things. Also, in the second half of the season is when most teams come together and hopefully play their best football. Having a not so spent JJ could be the deciding factor as to if we make the post season or not. Can we play our best football with a fatigued Julius Jones?

I think not.

[FolsomCowboy]

It is also hard to cut back when your center gets pushed back 2 yards into the backfield

[Givincer]

Hopefully BP sees the error of his ways and tells JJ to go with his instincts.

lmao - the error of his ways. Julius has had 3 games over 80 yds in each - he will have his games where he absolutely tears the defense apart for 150+yds but there are many of the premier backs who haven't had their 150 yd game yet this year... Bill Parcells will not make Julius a worse player if that is what you people are thinking - it's crazy thought. Ladainian Tomlnison in his first year in the NFL averaged 3.6 yards/carry. Depending on what you are relying on your back to be in your offense 3.5 yards/carry is not awful especially considering some of his bigger runs have been called back. Julius is now built to be durable enough to take 25-30 carries a game I believe and each game last year that he had 150+ yds in he had over 30 carries in. Julius will be back and his average will be over 4 soon enough. I know it's a lot to ask but you guys should really be patient with Julius considering we saw what a special player he was last year. Believe me Bill Parcells knows what a special player he has on his hands and would do everything he could to not have that situation ruined and to make him better.

[Chocolate Lab]

Anyone notice that JJ is just plowing straight ahead getting tough yards when there is clearly a lane to cut back against? I know Parcells is a preacher of not losing yards, but I think he could have a lot of longer runs if he would just use his cut backs every once in a while.
I think you called it... I think he's gotten Parcells' "don't ever give up yards" mantra too much in his head.

Of course you don't want to be running backwards all the time, but you also don't want to just put your head down and plow ahead for two yards if you realisitically can get six or seven more by bouncing it outside.

[Rack Bauer]

You can make cuts w/o going backwards. In fact, most of the cuts I've seen JuJo make were to avoid people in the backfield. So I don't think the "Don't lose yards" thought process has anything to do with the difference in JuJo's lack of cuts/jukes so far this season.

[percyhoward]

Our first two games were against two of last year's top 3 rushing defenses. Both the Skins and Chargers allowed opposing offenses 81 rushing yards per game, and Julius equalled or exceded that all by himself against both of them.

Then a weaker run D, the 49ers, puts the emphasis on stopping Julius, and it allows Bledsoe his biggest yardage game in 3 years...

Last season, four of Julius seven full games were a lot like this year's first three:

11/21 BAL 30 81 2.7
11/25 CHI 33 150 4.5
12/06 SEA 30 198 6.6
12/12 NOR 23 88 3.8
12/19 PHI 25 80 3.2
12/26 WAS 22 57 2.6
01/02 NYG 29 149 5.1

Most of Julius' yards this season will come against the weaker run D's, assuming they don't commit an extra defender to stop the run. Look forward to 150+ performances against AZ, KC, Det, and the Giants twice. Or else, look forward to another big day for Bledsoe. Pick your poison.