Emmitt and Julius

[nathanlt]

Some people have remarked that Julius Jones runs like Emmitt. Well, that's not exactly the case, but the similarities are there.

For example, Julius has great balance, he can get spun around and stay on his feet. Emmitt and Julius are very similar in that respect.

Julius doesn't bounce off of tackles as well as Emmitt, I think E was a much better runner in terms of power. Julius does unload a bit, I can think of a run against the Giants where he displayed that.

I think Julius strength is the quick... QUICK change of direction that he has. He seems much lighter on his feet, Emmitt had a steady, more patient change of direction.

Emmitt's strength was durability and reading defenses. That comes with experience, but I think Emmitt picked that up early. Time will tell if Julius becomes as good as Emmitt.

I don't think Julius Jones ever has to be as good as Emmitt in terms of the entire career, but I think it's possible that Julius could outdo Emmitt in a single game, a season record or two.

Julius already holds the record for most carries in a three game stretch, that's the first thing he's outdone Emmitt in. This season will tell if he can be better in some respects. It will be fun to watch!

 

[Jimz31]

When I see JJ run, he reminds me of Emmitt....I never said that he had ALL of the attributes that ES has, however, that can be said of virtually every comparison out there.

The bottom line is that when I watch JJ run, it's almost like "Just put #22 on him and you've got a younger Emmitt." There are some things that each does better.

 

[5 Super Bowls]

Some people have remarked that Julius Jones runs like Emmitt. Well, that's not exactly the case, but the similarities are there.

For example, Julius has great balance, he can get spun around and stay on his feet. Emmitt and Julius are very similar in that respect.

Julius doesn't bounce off of tackles as well as Emmitt, I think E was a much better runner in terms of power. Julius does unload a bit, I can think of a run against the Giants where he displayed that.

I think Julius strength is the quick... QUICK change of direction that he has. He seems much lighter on his feet, Emmitt had a steady, more patient change of direction.

Emmitt's strength was durability and reading defenses. That comes with experience, but I think Emmitt picked that up early. Time will tell if Julius becomes as good as Emmitt.

I don't think Julius Jones ever has to be as good as Emmitt in terms of the entire career, but I think it's possible that Julius could outdo Emmitt in a single game, a season record or two.

Julius already holds the record for most carries in a three game stretch, that's the first thing he's outdone Emmitt in. This season will tell if he can be better in some respects. It will be fun to watch!

ES fell forward when he got hit. That is the only difference that I see. That is a lot of YPC over an entire season.

 

[Alexander]

ES fell forward when he got hit. That is the only difference that I see. That is a lot of YPC over an entire season.

Emmitt rarely got hit. He was adept at never giving anyone a clear shot at his body. But he also faced less punishment than runners in the same era.

I may take some heat for saying this, but Emmitt really had it great.

He had more holes than most RBs. Those OLs won't be duplicated again. Ever. At least as long as the salary cap exists.

And no, I don't think he was a special runner like Barry Sanders was.

He just had it very very easy compared to his contemporaries.

 

[JDSmith]

Personally I don't think they are similar in running style much, if at all. Emmitt never had the super quick feet or speed that Julius has already displayed. I've already seen Julius juke more guys out of their jocks in half a season than Emmitt did in his entire career here. Emmitt was very subtle in his moves, he didn't juke guys so much as cause them to JUST barely miss. Part of the reason they all missed is because Emmitt was the best running back I've ever seen at using his free hand to fend off tackles. Go back and watch any highlights and you'll be amazed at how often Emmitt would use his free hand (his dominant, right hand, since he carried the ball in his left) to brush guys off or redirect them so that he could break their arm tackles. Because guys very rarely got a clean shot on Emmitt. Emmitt also had a lot more power than Julius has thus far displayed. His legs were incredibly strong, even for a RB.

Personally I think that if I had to make a comparison it would be to Barry Sanders. Julius runs like Barry EXCEPT that he continues to keep moving forward rather than dance around trying to hit the home run.

 

[JDSmith]

Emmitt rarely got hit. He was adept at never giving anyone a clear shot at his body. But he also faced less punishment than runners in the same era.

I may take some heat for saying this, but Emmitt really had it great.

He had more holes than most RBs. Those OLs won't be duplicated again. Ever. At least as long as the salary cap exists.

And no, I don't think he was a special runner like Barry Sanders was.

He just had it very very easy compared to his contemporaries.

Couldn't disagree more. Emmitt made the line look great as much as the line made him look great. He was a much better RB than Barry Sanders. Sanders would have made our line look a LOT like the line in Detroit. Because any time there wasn't a gaping hole there would be Barry dancing around in the backfield, losing yardage, and setting up a long second or third down. Conversely Emmitt would have made the line in Detroit look great, because when there was no hole he'd still hit a seam or gap and pick up 3 or 4 yards. Emmitt was much more subtle than Barry, but more effective if you want to win football games.

 

[Alexander]

Couldn't disagree more. Emmitt made the line look great as much as the line made him look great. He was a much better RB than Barry Sanders. Sanders would have made our line look a LOT like the line in Detroit. Because any time there wasn't a gaping hole there would be Barry dancing around in the backfield, losing yardage, and setting up a long second or third down. Conversely Emmitt would have made the line in Detroit look great, because when there was no hole he'd still hit a seam or gap and pick up 3 or 4 yards. Emmitt was much more subtle than Barry, but more effective if you want to win football games.

I was not bringing up Barry Sanders to rankle anyone, but what you said is completely accurate. Emmitt was more productive in a pure sense and was able to get the tough yards and not have to break a big one to make up for four negative plays. Sanders was a "special" runner because he could do things nobody else could to compensate for the negative plays.

But to imply that Emmitt would be exactly the same, no matter where he played, is amazing to me. Those offensive lines were incredible and perhaps the greatest in NFL history.

Revisionist history wants to repaint it differently, but go back and watch the games. Emmitt did benefit from some great support.

 

[JDSmith]

I was not bringing up Barry Sanders to rankle anyone, but what you said is completely accurate. Emmitt was more productive in a pure sense and was able to get the tough yards and not have to break a big one to make up for four negative plays. Sanders was a "special" runner because he could do things nobody else could to compensate for the negative plays.

But to imply that Emmitt would be exactly the same, no matter where he played, is amazing to me. Those offensive lines were incredible and perhaps the greatest in NFL history.

Revisionist history wants to repaint it differently, but go back and watch the games. Emmitt did benefit from some great support.

Of course he benefitted, no single player is great by himself. But as I said, he did as much to make the line look special as they did to make him look special. Emmitt in his prime would have made many lines in the league look great. Would they have looked as great as ours did? Probably not, our team was in better shape than almost anyone else in the league and as a result we wore teams down and dominated late. But Emmitt would have improved any line he played behind.

Edit: And it has nothing to do with revisionist histor, I had this argument with plenty of people in the early to mid 90's, while Emmitt was making our line look greater than they already were. How did our backup RBs fare behind that great line when they got a chance?

 

[NickZepp]

From those lines Emmitt had how many Hall of Famers are there? 2 maybe? Larry Allen and maybe Erik Williams. Larry Allen was only an OLineman for 1 SB and maybe 3 or 4 great years of Emmitt's carrer. I think the lines Dallas had were better coached then anyone elses maybe but not really that much better talented.

Emmitt was so great at making people have bad angles. His field vision was so good that he was able to preserve his career by going to places where he wouldn't get hit the hardest.

With a Barry Sanders how good the OLine is doesn't mean a thing. He could have had the greatest OLine ever in front of him he was still not gonna follow the blocks of the OLine most of the time. But Emmitt almost always did. And it worked for him for 15 years.

 

[gbrittain]

Personally I don't think they are similar in running style much, if at all. Emmitt never had the super quick feet or speed that Julius has already displayed. I've already seen Julius juke more guys out of their jocks in half a season than Emmitt did in his entire career here. Emmitt was very subtle in his moves, he didn't juke guys so much as cause them to JUST barely miss. Part of the reason they all missed is because Emmitt was the best running back I've ever seen at using his free hand to fend off tackles. Go back and watch any highlights and you'll be amazed at how often Emmitt would use his free hand (his dominant, right hand, since he carried the ball in his left) to brush guys off or redirect them so that he could break their arm tackles. Because guys very rarely got a clean shot on Emmitt. Emmitt also had a lot more power than Julius has thus far displayed. His legs were incredibly strong, even for a RB.

Personally I think that if I had to make a comparison it would be to Barry Sanders. Julius runs like Barry EXCEPT that he continues to keep moving forward rather than dance around trying to hit the home run.

Put me down for what he said.

 

[Banned_n_austin]

Some people have remarked that Julius Jones runs like Emmitt. Well, that's not exactly the case, but the similarities are there.

For example, Julius has great balance, he can get spun around and stay on his feet. Emmitt and Julius are very similar in that respect.

Julius doesn't bounce off of tackles as well as Emmitt, I think E was a much better runner in terms of power. Julius does unload a bit, I can think of a run against the Giants where he displayed that.

I think Julius strength is the quick... QUICK change of direction that he has. He seems much lighter on his feet, Emmitt had a steady, more patient change of direction.

Emmitt's strength was durability and reading defenses. That comes with experience, but I think Emmitt picked that up early. Time will tell if Julius becomes as good as Emmitt.

I don't think Julius Jones ever has to be as good as Emmitt in terms of the entire career, but I think it's possible that Julius could outdo Emmitt in a single game, a season record or two.

Julius already holds the record for most carries in a three game stretch, that's the first thing he's outdone Emmitt in. This season will tell if he can be better in some respects. It will be fun to watch!

nathanlt, good post. And I agree that if Julius has longevity that he could break a few of Emmitt's record. And if someone is going to break his all-time rushing record, it is likely to be a young guy ... at least if you look at it from a numerical standpoint.

And I think if Dallas puts up the run-blocking line like they did in front of Emmitt, which I think we have now with our guys, then Julius has a chance break some records of his own, being on a team like Dallas that likes to run the ball so much.

But ...

I'd rather him just be a back like he was last year and help the team ... and not let all the ego stuff get to his head - just do what Bill asks him to do ... he doesn't have to break Emmitt's record to impress me and more importantly, he doesn't have to be a record breaker to help the team.

 

[Banned_n_austin]

When I see JJ run, he reminds me of Emmitt....I never said that he had ALL of the attributes that ES has, however, that can be said of virtually every comparison out there.

The bottom line is that when I watch JJ run, it's almost like "Just put #22 on him and you've got a younger Emmitt." There are some things that each does better.

Jimz31 - I share a lot of enthusiasm about Julius too. It's been quite some time since we've had a guy that had such promising talent ... it's been since before Emmitt "lost a step" that we had a rusher that could make or break a game.... and that's been quite a few years ...

 

[wxcpo]

IThose offensive lines were incredible and perhaps the greatest in NFL history.

Revisionist history wants to repaint it differently, but go back and watch the games. Emmitt did benefit from some great support.

Arguing whether it was the OL who made Emmitt great or vice versa is like arguing whether it was Joe Montana who made Jerry Rice look great or vice versa. Bottom line is they were all great players who thrived and were successful because of their teammates.

 

[JDSmith]

Jimz31 - I share a lot of enthusiasm about Julius too. It's been quite some time since we've had a guy that had such promising talent ... it's been since before Emmitt "lost a step" that we had a rusher that could make or break a game.... and that's been quite a few years ...

The funny thing is that, when I went back and watched the 91 game against the Skins I remembered that Emmitt never HAD the step. One of the big knocks on Emmitt coming out of college was that he was simply too slow to play RB in the NFL. Even in 91 Emmitt was simply not fast. There was a marked difference between his quickness and speed and that displayed by Julius this year.

 

[parchy]

He just had it very very easy compared to his contemporaries.

I agree, but even so, credit has to be given where it's deserved. Guys like Terrell Davis and Priest Holmes have also benefitted from great lines, but neither will catch Emmitt's yardage total. I think we can only take 'Emmitt was good BUT his line...' so far. At some point it has to be up to the runner to make guys miss and create disadvantages himself, which Emmitt did spectacularly... like everybody says, the line can open the door, but the runner has to step through it

 

[Banned_n_austin]

The funny thing is that, when I went back and watched the 91 game against the Skins I remembered that Emmitt never HAD the step. One of the big knocks on Emmitt coming out of college was that he was simply too slow to play RB in the NFL. Even in 91 Emmitt was simply not fast. There was a marked difference between his quickness and speed and that displayed by Julius this year.

You're right. By no means was Emmitt Smith fast ... which is what I think hurt him so much later when he did lose a step ... he was just too slow in the end of his career.

 

[JDSmith]

You're right. By no means was Emmitt Smith fast ... which is what I think hurt him so much later when he did lose a step ... he was just too slow in the end of his career.

Yeah, he could not afford to lose even a half step because he didn't start out fast. Once he lost that step he became the plodder that some guys felt he'd be coming out of college. But even in his last year he could still show flashes of what he once was - he made some really nifty runs in Arizona, but unfortunately they were few and far between - and most weeks he simply looked worn.