ESPN: Scouts: On the hot seat: Felix Jones

[28 Joker]

Let's address a few games:

Vikings-

The antii-Felix crowd really crowed after this game. Jones had zero running room as Dallas' offensive line was dominated (14-32). However, Jones tallied a hard earned 93 total yards in the game on 24 touches. Jones caught 10 balls for 61 yards in the October game. His longest reception was 14 yards. Several of the passes were simple check downs or swing passes. In the first half, those plays were successful as Jones moved the chains. In the second half, the Vikings adjusted and zeroed in on Felix, because they knew that the Cowboys couldn't block very long in pass protection. The Vikings are one of the best open field tackling teams in the NFL, and Jones' game was better than Chris Johnson's game (at Tennessee) against the Vikings (in 2008).


@Giants-

Felix stared out white hot rushing, only to see the holes close for good. Jason Garrett calls the screen to Jones, and the Giants are caught in man coverage. The result was a 71 yard touchdown, where Felix dusts the Giants defense on his way to the end zone. Jones finishes with 136 total yards, and tallies the longest pass play of Dallas' season. The explosive play and game leaves some in the anti-Felix establishment looking for the straight jacket.


Saints-

I call this the "forgotten game", because Jones could have been the MVP of the game. Felix started out hot rushing, only to see the holes close for good. The Cowboys threw Felix the ball 7 times for 69 yards (LG 28), and Jones put on a clinic in the open field after the catch. Felix ran very good in the red zone in that game, but never had a chance to put the final nail in a tired and fading Saints defense (Roy E. Williams fumble). Felix Jones finished with 113 total yards and touched the ball 20 times, one of his very best games of the season.


Colts- (the second "forgotten game")

The Cowboys attack the Colts between the tackles, but they are unable to block one of Garrett's cutback counter runs to get Felix Jones into space and to the outside. Colombo falls down, and Felix gets tackled 5 yards in the backfield before he can square his shoulders. Jones finishes with 83 hard fought rushing yards, all between the tackles, on 22 carries. Jones shows the Cowboys that he is a tough inside runner while taking on Marion Barber's role. Felix tallies 91 total yards and finishes one play away from triple digits. Jones touches the football 25 times, but the screen game doesn't work that day. Jones' game at Indianapolis is better than Chris Johnson's game there in 2010, and only 28 yards separates Jones from Johnson's @Tennessee game against the Colts. Johnson hits a wide open cutback for an explosive run, but Dallas can't block a rare cutback counter for Felix against the Colts. One guy gets outside, and our guy doesn't due to poor blocking.



Eagles-

The first Eagles game sees the Cowboys completely unable to block the Eagles up front in the running game. However, this is a game where Dallas actually is able to block one cutback counter for Jones. It's his longest run of the game. Jones still puts up 41 rushing yards and 1 TD, on 13 carries. Furthermore, Jones catches 4 balls for 42 yards (LG 35). Dallas is winning going into the fourth quarter as Jones is leading McCoy in the total yards battle. However, Jones never touches the football in the fourth quarter while Dallas' front, on defense, gets gashed by the same zone running play, over and over and over and over again. The Red Sea opens up for McCoy, and the Eagles ice the game. Jones finishes with 83 total yards on 17 touches.

The stats (in the second 8 games) will show you that Jones was one explosive play away (20+ yards) from busting triple digits in total yards, in 5 of the last 8 games. Jones did top triple digits (in total yards) 3 times in the second 8 games (@Giants, Saints, and Washington). The other 5 games saw Felix tally 86, 91, 83, 88, and 81 total yards. The Colts game and first Eagles game has been discussed. The receiving yards stopped when Jon Kitna was hurt, so the last two games (88 and 81 total yards) saw Jones hot streak receiving come to an end.

It's ironic that it was the receiving yards that came up short (50 yards) while the rushing yards were right on target, in Felix's quest for 1300 total yards. Again, Kitna getting hurt was a huge factor in the last two receiving games for Jones (2-7).

 

[braw]

Let's address a few games:

Vikings-

The antii-Felix crowd really crowed after this game. Jones had zero running room as Dallas' offensive line was dominated (14-32). However, Jones tallied a hard earned 93 total yards in the game on 24 touches. Jones caught 10 balls for 61 yards in the October game. His longest reception was 14 yards. Several of the passes were simple check downs or swing passes. In the first half, those plays were successful as Jones moved the chains. In the second half, the Vikings adjusted and zeroed in on Felix, because they knew that the Cowboys couldn't block very long in pass protection. The Vikings are one of the best open field tackling teams in the NFL, and Jones' game was better than Chris Johnson's game (at Tennessee) against the Vikings (in 2008).


@Giants-

Felix stared out white hot rushing, only to see the holes close for good. Jason Garrett calls the screen to Jones, and the Giants are caught in man coverage. The result was a 71 yard touchdown, where Felix dusts the Giants defense on his way to the end zone. Jones finishes with 136 total yards, and tallies the longest pass play of Dallas' season. The explosive play and game leaves some in the anti-Felix establishment looking for the straight jacket.


Saints-

I call this the "forgotten game", because Jones could have been the MVP of the game. Felix started out hot rushing, only to see the holes close for good. The Cowboys threw Felix the ball 7 times for 69 yards (LG 28), and Jones put on a clinic in the open field after the catch. Felix ran very good in the red zone in that game, but never had a chance to put the final nail in a tired and fading Saints defense (Roy E. Williams fumble). Felix Jones finished with 113 total yards and touched the ball 20 times, one of his very best games of the season.


Colts- (the second "forgotten game")

The Cowboys attack the Colts between the tackles, but they are unable to block one of Garrett's cutback counter runs to get Felix Jones into space and to the outside. Colombo falls down, and Felix gets tackled 5 yards in the backfield before he can square his shoulders. Jones finishes with 83 hard fought rushing yards, all between the tackles, on 22 carries. Jones shows the Cowboys that he is a tough inside runner while taking on Marion Barber's role. Felix tallies 91 total yards and finishes one play away from triple digits. Jones touches the football 25 times, but the screen game doesn't work that day. Jones' game at Indianapolis is better than Chris Johnson's game there in 2010, and only 28 yards separates Jones from Johnson's @Tennessee game against the Colts. Johnson hits the cutback for an explosive run, but Dallas can't block a rare cutback counter for Felix against the Colts. One guy gets outside, and our guy doesn't due to poor blocking.



Eagles-

The first Eagles game sees the Cowboys completely unable to block the Eagles up front in the running game. However, this is a game where Dallas actually is able to block one cutback counter for Jones. It's his longest run of the game. Jones still puts up 41 rushing yards and 1 TD, on 13 carries. Furthermore, Jones catches 4 balls for 42 yards (LG 35). Dallas is winning going into the fourth quarter as Jones is leading McCoy in the total yards battle. However, Jones never touches the football in the fourth quarter while Dallas' front, on defense, gets gashed by the same zone running play, over and over and over and over again. The Red Sea opens up for McCoy, and the Eagles ice the game. Jones finishes with 83 total yards on 17 touches.

The stats (in the second 8 games) will show you that Jones was one explosive play away (20+ yards) from busting triple digits in total yards, in 5 of the last 8 games. Jones did top triple digits (in total yards) 3 times in the second 8 games (@Giants, Saints, and Washington). The other 5 games saw him Felix tally 86, 91, 83, 88, and 81 total yards. The Colts game and first Eagles game has been discussed. The receiving yards stopped when Jon Kitna was hurt, so the last two games (88 and 81 total yards) saw Jones hot streak receiving come to an end.

It's ironic that it was the receiving yards that came up short
(50 yards) while the rushing yards were right on target, in Felix's quest for 1300 total yards. Again, Kitna getting hurt was a huge factor in the last two receiving games for Jones (2-7).

All this write up for just 12 points

Marion Barber rushed 113 att for 374 yds for 4 tds
Tashard Choice rushed 66 att for 243 yds for 3 tds
Superman Jones rushed 185 att for 800 yds 1 td

 

[28 Joker]

Jason Garrett on Felix Jones (at the Senior Bowl):

"We feel very good about Felix Jones. I thought he had an outstanding year for us. He ran the ball well. He caught the ball well. He was very productive has a receiver. He got better as a blocker and he was more able to play in some third down situations for us and he's continuing to grow and grow as a player. I think he's proven to some people that he can be an inside runner and an every down back and we are excited about the progress that he made".

 

[braw]

Jason Garrett on Felix Jones (at the Senior Bowl):

"We feel very good about Felix Jones. I thought he had an outstanding year for us. He ran the ball well. He caught the ball well. He was very productive has a receiver. He got better as a blocker and he was more able to play in some third down situations for us and he's continuing to grow and grow as a player. I think he's proven to some people that he can be an inside runner and an every down back and we are excited about the progress that he made".

Man you just dont get it...Barber and Choice combined have less attempts, less yds yet have 7 touchdowns behind the same oline. THE SAME LINE

 

[28 Joker]

The Cowboys ranked 31st in rush offense going into Jason Garrett's first game against the Giants.

 

[28 Joker]

Not only was Felix Jones better than Choice, while running in the redzone, he was much better.

Felix Jones was much better than Barber in this area, too.

Redzone Carries:

Opponents 19-1:

Jones (19-63 3.3 YPC 1 TD LG 9)
Barber (27-46 1.7 YPC 3 TD LG 12)
Choice (17-35 2.1 YPC 2 TD LG 9)

Jones was the much better redzone back, behind a line that struggles in running situations and power run formations, because they have no pop, and in the case of the right side, no pop and no mobility. You can't score if you don't have the ball.

Opponents 9-Goal Line:

Jones (11-30 2.7 YPC 1 TD LG 7)
Barber (20-14 0.7 YPC 3 TD LG 3)
Choice (12-12 1.0 YPC 2 TD LG 3)

It isn't even close as to who was the better redzone back.

It's Felix Jones.

 

[Sarge]

"Very good run blocking unit" is a bit of a stretch....

:signmast:

 

[DallasEast]

Should the team release Marion Barber and refuse to draft a running back within the top two/three rounds next month, Felix Jones' supposed hot seat would suddenly become ice cold.

 

[TD-33]

All this write up for just 12 points

I didn't "write" it up that's the point. I just pasted in different names and it reads the same.
The lack of touchdowns is a lack of push by the line. Obviously.

 

[Typhus]

No, he doesn't. That's one of his weakness and, again, he's not alone since many others are pretty much the same way. Vision it's not just " seeing a hole " and hitting it. It's actually visualising openings before they happen and letting the instincts take over once they're in the 2nd line of defense.

Felix is the type of back who needs a small break and could make a 60 yards TD run at the blink of an eye, but if you take his whole body of work through an entire game, you'll see he doesn't have that " entire field " picture that others in the past had.

RW you have vision, because you understand the term. Emmitt exemplified term "vision", and what you described is exactly what RBs like Emmitt had, and that was the ability to see the entire field in front of them slowing down.

Felix has mid and top end speed, thats his strength. His hole burst needs improvement, which will naturally come, as the OL improves.

 

[28 Joker]

Here is a post from Percyhoward from a thread that I wrote:


41, that's 48 catches (it was about time he was used this way) on 52 targets.

So those receptions are basically like rushes, with 4 that went for no gain. For all intents and purposes he had a 1,250-yard rushing season on 237 attempts, or 5.3 per attempt.

If that keeps up next year, Romo might complete 75% of his passes.


41gy#:

Percyhoward is absolutely right. The screen game is an extension of your running game and equates to a long handoff. Jones' 1250 total yards came under heavy adversity on two fronts. Jones didn't get the football in the first half of the season, and he ran behind a significantly deterorated offensive line and had poor full back play.