ESPN breakdown of F Jones. He fits here.

[Holloway805]

Hopefully this is not a re-post, but I couldnt help but be amazed at this article. I know, only 8 reps today, but that can be fixed. He is perfect @ 28 for what we need. http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2008&id=12154. The homerun threat is written all over this guy.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

No thanks, give me Jamar Charles or Chris Johnson over this guy...

 

[Vintage]

No thanks, give me Ray Rice.

 

[mboy22]

same here, no thanks

 

[Haley94]

No thanks, give me Ray Rice.

I agree!!

Ray Rice's stock went up in my mind. His footwork looked good in some of the cone drills and he ran a better than expected 4.4 in the 40.

How is he as a receiver? Anyone know?

 

[TellerMorrow34]

No thanks, give me Ray Rice.

It's funny cause the last few months I was on the let me have Jones bandwagon, and I wasn't as high on Rice cause I figured he was a 4.65-4.7 forty guy.

But now that I know he can run somewhere between 4.4 and 4.53 I'm REALLY on the Rice bandwagon. He's a complete, all around, really good back who has better speed than i realized.

So, yeah, if I could have my pick of guys not named DMac then it would be either Mendenhall or Rice. I'll take Jones, don't get me wrong, but if we can have one of those two instead I'd be all over it.

 

[DR.WARE]

8 Reps What A Joke!!! How Is He Going To Block Anyone He Is Just Going To Get Tossed To The Ground

 

[Big Dakota]

It's funny cause the last few months I was on the let me have Jones bandwagon, and I wasn't as high on Rice cause I figured he was a 4.65-4.7 forty guy.

But now that I know he can run somewhere between 4.4 and 4.53 I'm REALLY on the Rice bandwagon. He's a complete, all around, really good back who has better speed than i realized.

So, yeah, if I could have my pick of guys not named DMac then it would be either Mendenhall or Rice. I'll take Jones, don't get me wrong, but if we can have one of those two instead I'd be all over it.

The thing about Rice is, he may not be the "game breaker" on the outside that Jones is, but if(GOD FORBID!!!!!!!) MBIII ever went down, Rice, like you say is a complete back that can carry the load for a period of time and that includes blocking on 3rd down. Jones is a change up back that fits well here IF MBIII is guaranteed healthy. Take your pick and take the risk

 

[texbumthelife]

My new draft strategy just became:

Draft a CB at #22 (as unpopular as this may be I want Flowers)
Trade #28 and our 2nd round pick to the Lions for Roy Williams and their second round pick.
2nd round Jamal Charles

If we could add a couple high energy guys after that, like Larsen fron UofA, I would be exstatic.

 

[Holloway805]

Rice, Johnson, Jones--- Whatever. All I know is Jones already has the background that any RB will need if drafted by the Cowboys. (Special teams, splitting carries, great attitude.) As long as I dont get Julius Jones running up the back of his O-lineman then falling down with an arm tackle, I will be good. I picture a Darren Sproles type of back to compliment MBIII. Maybe a little bigger.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

My new draft strategy just became:

Draft a CB at #22 (as unpopular as this may be I want Flowers)
Trade #28 and our 2nd round pick to the Lions for Roy Williams and their second round pick.
2nd round Jamal Charles

If we could add a couple high energy guys after that, like Larsen fron UofA, I would be exstatic.

I like this move a ton. Thats if we can work a deal out for Roy in Detroit. He is what the offense needs and I have been saying for a while that Charles is the third down back we need. He does need to work on that fumbling problem though.

 

[Paniolo22]

I'll take best CB available at 22 unless Mendenhall or Stewart are there. How the hell do we pass those guys up? At 28, I'd trade it for Roy Williams, if not I don't think we can pass up on Chris Johnson after today. Run, catch, speed, damn! In round 2, an Eddie or Hardy or Jordy. (Royal, James, or Nelson)

 

[RoyTheHammer]

Julius was a "homerun" threat too...4.4 and 8 reps? I'll pass thanks.

 

[Holloway805]

I'll take best CB available at 22 unless Mendenhall or Stewart are there. How the hell do we pass those guys up? At 28, I'd trade it for Roy Williams, if not I don't think we can pass up on Chris Johnson after today. Run, catch, speed, damn! In round 2, an Eddie or Hardy or Jordy. (Royal, James, or Nelson)

So you take Chris Johnson "after today?" I guess the film lied. I dont care about the workout warriors-- give me a football player. MBIII is a great example, 4th rd pick. There is not one GM out there that wouldnt love to have him because he's a player, not because of his combine numbers, which obviously were average or he wouldnt have lasted till the 4th. And then you want to take the best CB available at 22 unless a couple of RB's are there? This makes ZERO sense. Always take the best athlete available and now that position becomes even stronger. Drafting based on need on day 1 is just stupid.

 

[Holloway805]

Julius was a "homerun" threat too...4.4 and 8 reps? I'll pass thanks.

Yes, Julius was a HR threat when we drafted him. He is puzzling to me. As far as 8 reps go, WHO CARES? We have a FULL TIME strength and conditioning coach. Wonder how many reps Emmit did? Oh-- I guess 4.4 is slow now. Wonder what MBIII is in the 40? Dont you get it? Is he a player or not? This combine is waaaaaaaay overvalued. The only positive things are the Wonderlic and the physicals. Throw the rest out.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Yes, Julius was a HR threat when we drafted him. He is puzzling to me. As far as 8 reps go, WHO CARES? We have a FULL TIME strength and conditioning coach. Wonder how many reps Emmit did? Oh-- I guess 4.4 is slow now. Wonder what MBIII is in the 40? Dont you get it? Is he a player or not? This combine is waaaaaaaay overvalued. The only positive things are the Wonderlic and the physicals. Throw the rest out.

To me it is not that he could only manage 8 reps. As you noted a back can come in and get in the offseason strength program.

The thing you have to worry about is the guys dedication or mentality going into the combine.

If you know you are going into basically a big interview you would think the guy would have worked on his lifting or basically just told his agent to tell others he will not be lifting so it does not hurt his stock.

I just don't know how silly it is to go into the combine and only put up 8 reps in one of the biggest pre-draft situations you will have.

Just not smart at all on his or his agents part.

The only out I could see for him is if he had an injury that he was trying to hide.

 

[tunahelper]

It makes me wonder how well he can block in the single back set?

Seems he would be most effective in that alignment on passing downs.

 

[Holloway805]

To me it is not that he could only manage 8 reps. As you noted a back can come in and get in the offseason strength program.

The thing you have to worry about is the guys dedication or mentality going into the combine.

If you know you are going into basically a big interview you would think the guy would have worked on his lifting or basically just told his agent to tell others he will not be lifting so it does not hurt his stock.

I just don't know how silly it is to go into the combine and only put up 8 reps in one of the biggest pre-draft situations you will have.

Just not smart at all on his or his agents part.

The only out I could see for him is if he had an injury that he was trying to hide.

You make a good point on the perception of only 8 reps---. From the accounts I have read, he is a decent young man who can flat out play. Who knows about his mental frame work. I just hate seeing players rated almost exclusively by thier workout in a controlled environment w/o pads. There are WAY more busts out there than success stories. If I am the GM, I go by film and the players coaches in college.

 

[big dog cowboy]

To me it is not that he could only manage 8 reps. As you noted a back can come in and get in the offseason strength program.

The thing you have to worry about is the guys dedication or mentality going into the combine.

If you know you are going into basically a big interview you would think the guy would have worked on his lifting or basically just told his agent to tell others he will not be lifting so it does not hurt his stock.

I just don't know how silly it is to go into the combine and only put up 8 reps in one of the biggest pre-draft situations you will have.

Just not smart at all on his or his agents part.

The only out I could see for him is if he had an injury that he was trying to hide.

This is the exact thing I was questioning yesterday. Wouldn't you know before your combine workout that you could only do 8 reps and not closer to 20? Of course you would. That leaves the whole decision to go ahead with the workout open to questioning.

Despite his production we can see on tape, there are several red flags waving in the wind this morning on Felix. Perhaps there is a part of the story missing we don't know about yet. Perhaps he can change some of the new perception about him on his pro day.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Jones may be a good player in the NFL, but why spend a first on a back-up running back when there will be a quality one still available in the second round? MB III will most likely get 75% of the carries next year anyway, so I am would like to use our 2nd rounder on grabbing Rice, Kevin Smith or the kid from East Carolina (best available, I think they will all turn out pretty good anyway). Spend the firsts on CB and WR, where we are thin.