Barstool Jon Gruden: The Top Three Free Agent Running Backs Matter

[blueblood70]

you know what as much as this makes sense and I agree having a good running back and a good run game is important have an elite running back is not and why don't we discuss the fact that Aaron Jones and Dylan were very good they didn't need to be replaced they just happened to replace him with Jacobs I don't think it helped that team at all they're pretty much the same situation that they had with the running game IMHO

didn't the Ravens play in AAFC championship game last year without Henry haven't they lost like four or five games or at least they don't look dominant sure Henry matters but can we not over blow this but yes those teams are having good years but they had good years before he came this is like saying Christian McCaffrey changed the 49ers no he didn't they've been to the Super bowl and lost without him they've been to plenty of NFC championships games with him and without him the three guys they had in that office whenever doing running back by committee did just as much but just from three players instead of 1??

Somehow you think that $19 million they pay Christian McCaffrey changed the San Francisco 49ers in any way I don't see it sure he's a really good running back but they were already in the same position...

Saquon Barkley did make the eagles a little bit more dynamic he's saving their butts whenever jalen hurts it's not playing well or they're not blocking well on pass protection he is helping that team a lot but not that big of improvement we're over blowing these individual stats and the great years they're having those teams are already winning they were already playoff teams last year they did not just completely changed those teams that's wrong don't try to convince me that I'm not wrong yes it's nice to have a back like that but we had Ezekiel Elliott in his prime years we had DeMarco Murray in his prime years all do things like this and it didn't help us get to the Super bowl didn't help us get to the NFC championship game...

I mean can we use a different example why don't you show me one of these running backs who actually came to a team and completely changed A-Team from a losing team into a winning team because I would say that you'd be wrong because Henry played for the Titans they didn't win much they didn't have a few good years and I'll say that about the giants saquon Barkley did not on his own make that a good team and Jacob with the Raiders look people they're on teams they were on teams that were losers and they got on teams that were already winners and yes help those teams and some games this year but you guys are way overreacting to all of this I mean because if it was that they were so dynamic that they change a team then why do the teams they come from 1:00 not retain them and two they weren't winning much....

 

[fivetwos]

Another example of our FO being reactive instead of understanding the game In advance. Five years ago, we set the RB market by paying Zeke at the top of the RB market.

They realized they overpaid for a guy who was already in decline and instead of recognizing THAT they over-reacted by acting like RBs don’t matter. There are examples like this throughout the history of the Jones FO where they are reacting to the times and the mistakes they make by over-reacting.

Stephen Jones has to be the worst negotiator in the history of life.

He tells the media that the “starting point” for Elliott would be Gurleys deal. He did the same six months ago with “we haven’t prepared for life without Dak (which makes the Lance deal even more puzzling).”

They get hosed every time. The major difference between the Eliiott and Gurley deals was the structure. The Rams were able to move on reasonably easy. Elliott was essentially uncuttable long after it was clear he was cooked.

Bringing him back years later as “RB1” is another story in itself. Pathetic.

 

[blueblood70]

they don't matter as much as you think they do they matter sure the team they came from were not winning with them and I'll throw Christian McCaffrey in it as well and ends up landing on good teams all of them are already having playoff success that's a fact... Sure it helps but let's not over blow the fact that if you leave context and details out that you can make this look better than it is the Cowboys have already been in this situation they've always had one of the best running backs in the league winning rushing grounds and not getting anywhere in the playoffs so let's like calm down...

Trying to say that the Green Bay Packers with Aaron Jones and Dylan were not as dynamic running as they are with Jacobs is ridiculous they just chose to change but doesn't make it a significant change and that's the same with Christian McCaffrey they were a good running team without him they were in the same exact spot with and without him and the Titans and the Raiders were not doing anything and neither were the New York Giants so let's keep some perspective here when you guys are over blowing these moves is very nice is a beautiful advantage to have these guys on those teams but these guys are already entered onto those winning teams they did not transform them into winning teams..

We've had that Murray Ezekiel Elliott all that having career years and we never elevated in the playoffs because it's a team game and something always went wrong too many penalties bad referee calls fumbles interceptions bad defense and we can go on and on and on and these guys are not gonna change that yes we need a new running back next year we need a dynamic running back these guys would not have made us a better team this year we were not that team that they can go and just sit right in and keep the flow going..

 

[CATCH17]

Has the Notre Dame linebacker in round 3 done anything?

That’s where I thought we should’ve got a guy.

 

[KingCorcoran]

He put it in writing, though. I honestly thought he was unofficially blackballed from football. Maybe he is staging a comeback.

It is still the United States. “blackballed” is no more popular than the sentiments he expressed. He’s a PR liability for any business. He has only himself to blame for that. If he has something significant to offer he’ll get the opportunity to do something football related. I doubt it will be anytime soon.

 

[Whyjerry]

Running Backs Do Matter​

Rico Dowdle 600 Yards
Ezekiel Elliott 190 Yard
Deuce Vaughn 33 yards
Total 823


Record 5-7

Off Season Moves For The Cowboys..
Fix The RB Core
Win Those Battles Shore Up The OL - DL

Simple HA!
You Would Think So.?

But Not Jerry

​

Deuce is disappointing. I thought there was something there. Not quick enough for the NFL I guess.

 

[ccb04]

There is no doubt each has made a big impact. I would take any of the 3. That said, each of the teams they left was bad last year…and each of the teams they went to was a playoff team last year. All 3 also went to three of the best run organizations in in the league.

 

[fivetwos]

More and more, the Jones philosophy of avoiding free agency is being exposed as a flawed strategy in team building.

Because you are bad at something is not a good reason to not participate in it. Get better at it. Or more specifically, remove the people that are bad at it from their role.

It difficult to even call them bad at it when they don’t even participate.

Was Brandon Carr all that bad? He wasn’t Prime but is that what they expected?

What about Leonard Davis? That wasn’t a bad signing.

This is all about Stephen gaining more control, which I suspect happened around the time of the Martin vs Manziel draft pick, and he looks at every single situation as a free agent not being worth it dollar for dollar vs a cheap draft pick. Yeah we know that, but consider the caveats, and the fact that no one hits enough of them to operate that way and expect to win.

The most frustrating part is that they don’t at all seem to get that their MO doesn’t work. Successful teams are wheeling and dealing picks and signing players, and he just moans about the cap being real, and his major goal is to keep together a team that isn’t good enough. It’s maddening.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

It is still the United States. “blackballed” is no more popular than the sentiments he expressed. He’s a PR liability for any business. He has only himself to blame for that. If he has something significant to offer he’ll get the opportunity to do something football related. I doubt it will be anytime soon.

Exactly .......good post

 

[blueblood70]

You guys show me how these guys change these teams yes I know they're a positive and yes I know they're good and they are helping a team that they got on that was already winning

what were the records at this time last year on all three of these teams without these guys I mean they were all playoff teams and I can add in Christian McCaffrey as well in my opinion not doing anything to make those teams better they make the offenses better and at times yeah they might help them win a game but are you telling me the Ravens were 8-4 last year?? So how is Henry helping them?? We may see it in the playoffs but Aaron Jones and Dylan helped the Packers get to the second round and beat us pretty handedly so how do you think Josh Jacobs changed that team i mean his quarterbacks throwing a lot of interceptions?

And I mean the eagles last year didn't they start the season off 10-1 tnhey are 9-2 ..

How about the flip side how about how does the Pittsburgh Steelers winning with those two quarterbacks who are cast off from their teams and a running back who's not even as good or we could just call it a wasp between like Rico dowdo Najee Harris is a under 4 yards per carry type of back he's not dynamic they just give him the ball A LOT! Same thing with Kareem hunt how is it Kansas City Chiefs winning with a seventh round running back and a guy they picked up off the street literally wasn't even on a practice squad and they just handed the ball 20 * a game and they make it work if we would have given the ball or Rico down on 20 * a game from the beginning of the season if he could remain healthy I believe we could have made this into a better running game just by appearances you know perspective that we have now looks like trash because of our head coach and offensive coordinator who are one of the same who are terrible at picking the right players for the right situations..

So I guess we'll see in the playoffs but like I said with Christian McCaffrey he came into 18 that's been to a bunch of NFC championship games and a couple of Super Bowls without him and they went with him but they still lost you guys they came from bad teams all these running backs and they came to good teams that remain good teams so maybe in the playoffs we'll find out what they're worth really is but Christian McCaffrey didn't do anything to help the 49ers win the super bowl last year..


This is a team game it will forever be a team game and you guys are wow making a good point that we need a better run game and a better running back like someone that that's more like jamir Gibbs that's who I would be comparing it to screw the free agent screw the $10 million you guys would think that's OK no it's not Tony Pollard wasn't even worked with he got with the Titans Rico is just as good in my opinion or at least it's right there our run game was hurt more by our offensive line scheme our play collar and our inability from our offensive coordinator to choose the right running back to play both years and back-to-back years in my opinion Rico got the shaft...

So let's pick up a player or two in the draft you can use Rico or a guy like him plus a little bit more of a juice running back in this draft like jamir Gibbs and we don't need these free agents I'm not on board no matter what they look like with paying guys that much money at the position because I just stated facts they have not elevated their teams to a point where they've changed what they were before they got there...,

 

[blueblood70]

Deuce is disappointing. I thought there was something there. Not quick enough for the NFL I guess.

Oh the horse they matter but you don't need one of those three guys to make your run game better I can name a bunch of teams like the Kansas City Chiefs are using Kareem hunt who is not better than Rico they're about the same and somehow they have the best record in the NFL that you were using a seventh round draft pick before him the Pittsburgh Steelers use a guy that barely get you 4 yards of carry you know like Rico the problem here is our scheme and our run game was flawed from the beginning because of our offensive coordinator yeah we don't need to use deuce maybe we didn't even need to use Elliot maybe this should have been about 100 the full back and Rico getting most of the carries and then using dalvin cook or someone else but yes the choices were bad from the beginning we already see the proof that it was not the names on the back of their jersey more the scheme to play calling in the offensive line which all look better now all of a sudden...

So yes I'm on board you draft a running back in the first 3 rounds you go get one of the better running backs someone with a little juice that can be used with a guy like Rico Rico already proved he could be a solid running back in this league his problem was his coaches and his offensive line in the schemes his offensive line coach it's more important to have those because I've seen the San Francisco 49ers back up running back have a couple 100 yard games it wasn't about Christian McCaffrey they were already good before he got there in a running back by committee they were very successful..

The mistake wasn't getting one of those free agents not even keeping Tony they were all smart not to go do that for our situation we needed a new young running back with juice.. I just keep bringing up a guy like Gibbs that's what this Cowboys team needs we have the running backs that can move the ball we need the ones that can actually take the top off and make an impact play deep long runs touchdowns..

 

[Bobhaze]

He put it in writing, though. I honestly thought he was unofficially blackballed from football. Maybe he is staging a comeback.

Being on “Barstool” is probably not yet considered a come back, lol.

 

[Whyjerry]

Has the Notre Dame linebacker in round 3 done anything?

That’s where I thought we should’ve got a guy.

I see him running around a lot and doing very little. Remember most had him as a 5. Jerry did a Jerry grabbing him early.

 

[CATCH17]

You guys show me how these guys change these teams yes I know they're a positive and yes I know they're good and they are helping a team that they got on that was already winning

what were the records at this time last year on all three of these teams without these guys I mean they were all playoff teams and I can add in Christian McCaffrey as well in my opinion not doing anything to make those teams better they make the offenses better and at times yeah they might help them win a game but are you telling me the Ravens were 8-4 last year?? So how is Henry helping them?? We may see it in the playoffs but Aaron Jones and Dylan helped the Packers get to the second round and beat us pretty handedly so how do you think Josh Jacobs changed that team i mean his quarterbacks throwing a lot of interceptions?

And I mean the eagles last year didn't they start the season off 10-1 tnhey are 9-2 ..

How about the flip side how about how does the Pittsburgh Steelers winning with those two quarterbacks who are cast off from their teams and a running back who's not even as good or we could just call it a wasp between like Rico dowdo Najee Harris is a under 4 yards per carry type of back he's not dynamic they just give him the ball A LOT! Same thing with Kareem hunt how is it Kansas City Chiefs winning with a seventh round running back and a guy they picked up off the street literally wasn't even on a practice squad and they just handed the ball 20 * a game and they make it work if we would have given the ball or Rico down on 20 * a game from the beginning of the season if he could remain healthy I believe we could have made this into a better running game just by appearances you know perspective that we have now looks like trash because of our head coach and offensive coordinator who are one of the same who are terrible at picking the right players for the right situations..

So I guess we'll see in the playoffs but like I said with Christian McCaffrey he came into 18 that's been to a bunch of NFC championship games and a couple of Super Bowls without him and they went with him but they still lost you guys they came from bad teams all these running backs and they came to good teams that remain good teams so maybe in the playoffs we'll find out what they're worth really is but Christian McCaffrey didn't do anything to help the 49ers win the super bowl last year..


This is a team game it will forever be a team game and you guys are wow making a good point that we need a better run game and a better running back like someone that that's more like jamir Gibbs that's who I would be comparing it to screw the free agent screw the $10 million you guys would think that's OK no it's not Tony Pollard wasn't even worked with he got with the Titans Rico is just as good in my opinion or at least it's right there our run game was hurt more by our offensive line scheme our play collar and our inability from our offensive coordinator to choose the right running back to play both years and back-to-back years in my opinion Rico got the shaft...

So let's pick up a player or two in the draft you can use Rico or a guy like him plus a little bit more of a juice running back in this draft like jamir Gibbs and we don't need these free agents I'm not on board no matter what they look like with paying guys that much money at the position because I just stated facts they have not elevated their teams to a point where they've changed what they were before they got there...,

Elite RBs are a luxury.

You shouldn’t be paying a RB if you can’t block, cover, and Tackle.

The teams that let Henry, Jacobs, and Saquon go all made the right decision.

The teams who signed them all made the right decision.



If your home is falling apart don’t go buy a brand new car if your current car can do the job.

Fix your home then buy a car.

 

[Cowboys5217]

Jerry Jones is pleased with many of the takes in this thread.

 

[Big Country]

Agreed, it’s an amazing fit for all 3. Saquon would be having his normal Saquon year on the Giants (not the production he has in Philly)

And Henry wouldn’t be having this type of statistical year if he stayed in Tennessee or came here. Has been a great fit.

And obviously same with Jacobs.

I would have been fine with either of those 3 had Jones decided to spend FA money on any of them. As well as Joe Mixon …

 

[Cowboys5217]

Another example of our FO being reactive instead of understanding the game In advance. Five years ago, we set the RB market by paying Zeke at the top of the RB market.

They realized they overpaid for a guy who was already in decline and instead of recognizing THAT they over-reacted by acting like RBs don’t matter.

Repeating that mistake with Dak nearly word for word.

 

[rocknrobcowboy]

There is no doubt each has made a big impact. I would take any of the 3. That said, each of the teams they left was bad last year…and each of the teams they went to was a playoff team last year. All 3 also went to three of the best run organizations in in the league.

Good Point,Each Of The 3 Left Bad Teams.

Rico Dowdle will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025 So I wonder If Rico Will Leave This Bad Cowboys Team And Go On To a Successful Career With Another Team?

 

[blueblood70]

There is no doubt each has made a big impact. I would take any of the 3. That said, each of the teams they left was bad last year…and each of the teams they went to was a playoff team last year. All 3 also went to three of the best run organizations in in the league.

That's what I'm trying to say and that's why you do not need any of those 3 Kansas City Pittsburgh many teams are getting by without any of those types of running backs they have running backs that are like Rico the problem here has been the scheme and the problem here wasn't bringing back Tony we let him go that was good no way to pay him that kind of money those three free agents would not have been worth it here not in my opinion not this year our mistake was not getting another young running back in the draft that was the mistake and allowing Mike McCarthy to stay and ruin this offense because Rico interpret are a lot better players than they look like to people who don't know any better because they're not being utilized properly rico's as good as at least better than at least 16 other teams running backs look at them his yards per carry his percentage of his win rate and all that stuff and what he should be doing he's better than he looked because for two years now Mike McCarthy has iced this guy he's better than he looks didn't mean we didn't need another guy I need we need a guy like Gibbs we need to draft a guy like Gibbs we don't need one of these older expensive free agent running backs and you're right I already said that in three posts above these guys didn't change the team they came to they were already in the same spot I think the Ravens had a better record last year at the time the eagles had about the same record at this time maybe one game better and Aaron Jones and Corey Dillon were just as good and the Packers were a playoff team already without changing running backs they simply all made a change but they all were playoff teams and you're right.. They did not make the teams they left good they didn't elevate them to anything special and they truly while they're very good haven't really changed the nature much like Christian McCaffrey got $19,000,000 to do what to get to and lose another Super Bowl to get to another NFC championship game the 49ers were already doing that without him..

What we need to do is draft a guy like Gibbs we need a running back with a little juice to go with a guy like Rico but the first thing we need to do is get Mike McCarthy out of here 'cause his misuse of Turpin and Rico has made this offense look like trash all of a sudden he waited 10 weeks into the season to start using those two better I mean it's ridiculous after the Pittsburgh game it should have been quite obvious that Rico was the number one running back here and they could have been a better team had they used a better rotation all over this team but it's quite obvious Rico deserved a lot better than when he got he'd have three 100 yard games this year easily if he would have been utilized properly we wouldn't be having this conversation as much but the scheme is also bad...

Don't think these guys making eight $9 million a year would have fared very well in this game with this offensive line and this coaching staff it just kinda obvious but people just wanna harp on it 'cause they wanna get all over Jerry Jones for not picking them up and that's three guys out of 32 teams Rico is a whole lot like the guys after the top ten and he's very capable if we just had another option and a better coaching staff...

I'm still in that group nothing has changed you do not pay running back that kind of money you just draft one every four years I thought that's what happened after Ezekiel got paid that's what people said in here now you guys want these guys but these guys went to a already very good team and they're still very good and maybe in the playoffs we'll see their worth but right now I'm not impressed they're all having good years but I've seen Derrick Henry have a 2000 yard season with the Titans he's not any different with the Ravens the Ravens went to an AFC championship game last year without the guy so again maybe their work will be better later but I don't think it would help the Dallas Cowboys we need a fresh young running back with some juice fresh legs and let's just go from there..

 

[PAPPYDOG]

We had a top-flying ZEKE for years and got two playoff wins. Gruden, say it isn't so say it isn't so????