dcfanatic
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March 14, 2007 ---
When the Cowboys drafted Julius Jones many of us fans thought he would be in Dallas for at least 10-12 years. Now he has had his best season as a Cowboy and it seems everyone wants to trade him away. I am included in that group that would be willing to trade him for the right price.
Maybe it's because he is not Emmitt Smith and we are so used to having a star running back of that caliber that we think of Jones as a good back, but just not good enough to be the #1 guy on the Dallas Cowboys.
So what would Jones have had to do in his first three years to warrant us fans not to even think about him being a guy that could be traded away. My only guess is that he would have had to make us forget about Emmitt Smith. That's not going to happen for a long time people so maybe we should give Jones a break.
Let's compare the numbers over the first three seasons of their careers.
Emmitt Smith ---
Year TM | G | Att Yds Y/A TD| Rec Yds Y/R TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-----
| 1990 dal | 16 | 241 937 3.9 11 | 24 228 9.5 0 |
| 1991 dal | 16 | 365 1563 4.3 12 | 49 258 5.3 1 |
| 1992 dal | 16 | 373 1713 4.6 18 | 59 335 5.7 1 |
Julius Jones ---
| Year TM | G | Att Yds Y/A TD| Rec Yds Y/R TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------
| 2004 dal | 8 | 197 819 4.2 7 | 17 109 6.4 0 |
| 2005 dal | 13 | 257 993 3.9 5 | 35 218 6.2 0 |
| 2006 dal | 16 | 267 1084 4.1 4 | 9 142 15.8 0 |
The biggest thing that stands out to me in the comparison is that Jones was not given the work load that Smith was given. In his second and third season Emmitt had over 100 more carries in those season than Jones did and that was probably because of the coaching philosophies of Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells differing.
But would Julius Jones be able to handle another 100 carries each season?
That's a question we are probably never going to see answered. Most NFL teams in 2007 are running a '2 back system' and that's not going to change any time soon unless Larry Johnson or Ladainian Tomlinson are on the roster.
Jones held his own with his yards per carry average and he seemed to get over the injury bug last season so those are good things.
Look at those touchdown numbers though. Emmitt was a TD machine for the Cowboys when he played while Jones was immediately removed from the lineup when the Cowboys got near the goalline. That's not a good thing and it's pretty much an indictment on a running back's toughness when he is not able to power his way into the End Zone.
The last thing to compare is the receiving numbers. Emmitt seemed to become a bigger part of the passing game into his third season while Jones seemed to disappear in his third season. Neither of them are on the level of Tomlinson catching passes out fo the backfield though so I guess that's almost a tie more than anything even though Emmitt had more catches than Jones.
Julius Jones will never be a great Hall of Fame running back like Emmitt Smith. Can we all agree with that statement? Jones can be a very good back who averages around four yards per carry who breaks a big run every now and then, but has to be taken out of the game near the goalline.
It could be worse you know. He could be Troy Hambrick. Sorry to even bring up his name folks.
I think the Cowboys would have to get a very good offer for Jones before they decide to let him go. Most fans out there are willing to let him go because he's not on the 'Emmitt Smith level', but then again who is?
For the people out there who want Marion Barber to be the #1 guy I think we would have to see him carry the load for at least a full season before just giving him Jones' job. He does not have the break away speed and while he did very well coming in late in games last season it's yet to be determined if he can do as well against fresher defenses early in games. If he can't then the Cowboys won't even need him late in games because they will probably be losing heading into the fourth quarter.
I say this to the teams interested in Julius Jones. Be prepared to offer a young defensive tackle who will make an impact from day one or a 2nd and a 5th round pick in the 2007 draft. If the offer is anything less I would be very hesitant to make a trade.
Taking all this stuff in I think Julius Jones will be a Dallas Cowboy in 2007. That's not a bad thing either because with him and MBIII toting the rock the Cowboys rushed for 1738 yards and 18 TD's in 2006. If they can reach those numbers in 2007 I would be pretty happy.
