J. Jones vision

[ghst187]

I've noticed JJ missing a lot of open lanes and plodding into the pile where the hole was supposed to be instead of bouncing it outside to an open lane.
He should probably be over 1000 yards already IMO but I still also think he's pretty good. I don't think he's great by any stretch but I think he's one of those guys that is good and good enough to have an occasional game like the one he did in Carolina last year.
I would also prefer to see JJ get the pitches, tosses, corner plays and screen passes (now that he can finally catch the ball) since he is the speed guy and I love watching him in the open field just run by people in pursuit.

I was HUGELY excited when we grabbed Barber in the 4th. I thought it was a HUGE steal in the same vein as the Witten steal in the 3rd round. I thought Barber was a legit late first or early second rounder. I LOVE the way Barber runs. He is an EXCELLENT RB. Good vision, finds the crease, runs with great power, breaks tackles, runs with passion. He is a joy to watch.
IMO, Barber should be the 1st and 2nd down back and JJ should be the "CoP" back.
I do like the duo a lot and I won't complain about how they've been managed so far. Romo has instantly made them more effective also, just like the he has the entire rest of the team. We're now getting from them what I expected.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Julius Jones is doing a pretty good job of running the ball but he doesn't get enough tough yardage and there does seem to be yards left on the field where he could cut back...that being said he's still on pace for 1,300 yards rushing and 5 or 6 TD's so it's cool...

 

[Rampage]

we need to get a better rb

 

[Zman5]

The weird thing is, he didn't have this problem in his rookie year. I wonder what changed between end of his rookie year and now. His running style is very different now from his rookie year.

I'm not saying he was as good as Barry Sanders or Emmitt but his running style was more like Barry in his rookie year and he is trying to run more like Emmitt past two years.

 

[scottsp]

Heck yes, Julius is a good NFL running back. We are lucky to have him. But he has his flaws, too. There are grounds for questioning this part of his game (this thread's topic).

Parcells covered this very item in Tuesday's presser.

Julius is having a solid season and I like what we get from our RB duo, but I agree with Bill - he does tend to leave yards on the field. It's not a criticism as if to say, GET HIM THE HELL OUT OF THERE! But moreso of the, "if he ever figures that part out" variety.

More constructive than anything else.

I do know this: Like Barber, Jules made some really tough runs in the fourth quarter last Sunday. And he was exceptional on the screen play that went to the one.

 

[burmafrd]

What has changed since his rookie year? BP has been coaching him. He runs differently because that is the way BP wants him to run. Trust the play and his blockers and do not free lance. MB has gotten in hot water several times by free lancing. That is probably one of the reasons that despite all BP says about giving MB more carries it has not happened.
I happen to think that BP should have left JJ alone and let him run his way. Those 7 games in 2004 were some of the best games any RB has had for the cowboys. Only Emmitt & TD in their best years were any better. But that is BP and that is the way it is.

 

[goshan]

1. Julius is a decent/pretty good NFL running back. Nothing more. Nothing less.
2. He still looked better his rookie year to me. Even though Parcells doesn't agree.
3. His vision is definitely suspect and he doesn't make enough people miss despite having really good quickness. He leaves a lot of yards on the field.
4. If we get a chance to pick up a better RB the next year or two we probably will.

 

[burmafrd]

Finding a better RB without using a high pick is not going to happen. So it won't. Like I said, the JJ of 2004 was a bigger threat then the JJ of today. ANd I put that all on BP.

 

[Zman5]

Finding a better RB without using a high pick is not going to happen. So it won't. Like I said, the JJ of 2004 was a bigger threat then the JJ of today. ANd I put that all on BP.

I agree to a certain point that it is BP's coaching. JJ looks like he is still "thinking" too much instead of trusting his instincts.

If you go back and look at some of games in 2004 (Seattle, NY etc..) you would never say he had bad vision.

 

[Ken]

I can't help but wonder what some people are watching! Do you realize that JJ had 53 yards rushing and 15 yards receiving in the 2nd half alone on Sunday? Do you realize that he had 104 yards on 25 touches in that game? He had a very good game despite the colts playing their best defensive game of the year. He was largely responsible for our 2 td drives in the 2nd half, and did a very good job on blitz pickup all day long.

He certainly isn't perfect, but he is having a great year, and people are just never happy.

I understand perfectly about Julius's numbers. The problem is, he is leaving a ton of yards on the field. His rookie year, he had much better vision, imo.

I don't know what changed, but he's just an average running back in this league.

 

[stealth]

wasn't his rookie year the one where he only played the last 9 games or some crap? Is it possible that once teams had film on him he was easy to handle?

 

[percyhoward]

Barber gets the ball with the D spread and in the 2nd half after the D is tired.

I'm not trying to say Barber is a better back, I'm just busting some myths about Barber...

myth: Barber gets more carries than Jones in the 2nd half
fact: Jones has 95 2nd half carries to Barber's 58

myth: Jones doesn't get as many opportunities against tired D's in the 4th
fact: Jones has 39 4th quarter rushes to Barber's 31

myth: Barber's 5.0 ypr is greatly inflated by huge numbers on 3rd and long.
fact: Take out the 10 runs he's had on 3rd and 3+, and his ypr is 4.7

Barber's per carry average is the same on 3rd down as it is on 1st down, and that's with a lot more carries on 1st down.

Julius' stuffs can't be chalked up to fresh defenses. I think they're more attributable to a lack of vision. He has been stuffed more times in the 4th quarter (7) than in the 2nd and 3rd quarters combined (4). Also in yards per carry, his least effective quarter is the 4th.

Yards per carry by quarter
Jones 3.8 3.8 4.9 3.3
Barber 1.8 2.9 5.6 6.3

And Julius has more carries than Barber in both the 3rd and 4th quarters. So he's being given more chances to take advantage of tired D's, and can't match Barber's average.

I think BP considers Julius the better back, and wants to keep trying him in the 4th until he breaks one. When he does, that average will go up. He sure looked good on that 4th quarter screen. But the numbers are what they are.

 

[Derinyar]

For those saying hes just an average back, if by average you mean top 10, then your right.

For those saying he should be over 1000 yards already, there are only three backs over 1000 already. LT, Larry Johnson, and Frank Gore. And only one more over 900, Tiki.

Could we have a better back than Julius? Sure. Which player that we've drafted in the first round would you have given up to get that better back?

We could have drafted Johnson instead of Newman. I don't think I'd make that trade honestly.

The one that you might argue is this last year we could have drafted Maroney over Carpenter. Though I still want to see what Maroney does as a primary back before I would declare him as being anything more than a nice change of pace.

 

[Kevinicus]

People do realize don't you that just because it looks like there is a hole or lane open on TV doesn't mean it's actually there. You do realize that YOUR vision is limited by what's on the television and that maybe, just maybe Julius is making the correct cuts, and choosing the right paths.

 

[4lifecowboy]

What has changed since his rookie year? BP has been coaching him. He runs differently because that is the way BP wants him to run. Trust the play and his blockers and do not free lance. MB has gotten in hot water several times by free lancing. That is probably one of the reasons that despite all BP says about giving MB more carries it has not happened.
I happen to think that BP should have left JJ alone and let him run his way. Those 7 games in 2004 were some of the best games any RB has had for the cowboys. Only Emmitt & TD in their best years were any better. But that is BP and that is the way it is.

First post in this thread I 100% agree with. I recall Parcells making a comment recently about Barber avoiding the safety, something he had to coach out of Jones. I was always under the belief that once a back is beyond the linebackers it was freestyle from that point on. Seems Parcells doesn't want a lot of long run to me.

 

[diehard2294]

What has changed since his rookie year? BP has been coaching him. He runs differently because that is the way BP wants him to run. Trust the play and his blockers and do not free lance. MB has gotten in hot water several times by free lancing. That is probably one of the reasons that despite all BP says about giving MB more carries it has not happened.
I happen to think that BP should have left JJ alone and let him run his way. Those 7 games in 2004 were some of the best games any RB has had for the cowboys. Only Emmitt & TD in their best years were any better. But that is BP and that is the way it is.

 

[theogt]

If you gave Julius 5 extra carries per game, at his average, he'd be the 4th ranked rusher in the league.

Who thinks Barber would do the same give that amount of carries? Barber is the ultimate 3rd down back, but I'm not sure he could handle 25+ carries a game over 16 games.