Jones averaging 4.1 yards per carry

[Alexander]

They should trade him. You can find someone in the draft that can give you 3.4 YPC for a lot less money.

Shaun Alexander has been a consistent back in this league and has been injured.

You know, the same excuse that was peddled out to explain away Jones' lack of production last season.

It is sad that someone feels that dropping Alexander's name into this somehow validates anything about Jones.

It doesn't.

Two separate cases. One is consistent and has got the job done at a high level for years. The other has not.

 

[AdamJT13]

Over the last 9 games, 36% of Julius' carries have been for 2 yards or less.

A whopping 21% of his carries in those 9 games have been for 0 or negative yardage!!!!!

It's not good, no matter how you slice it.

How do you know that's not good? Have you ever looked at what the typical percentages are for rushing attempts?

You said 36 percent of Julius' carries over the past nine games have been for 2 yards or less. Gee, that doesn't sound good -- until you realize that more than 44 percent of all carries in the NFL gain 2 yards or less.

And that "whopping" 21 percent that gained 0 or less? The league average is about 20 percent.

A little perspective is always helpful.

 

[Rack]

What JuJo has done statistically is irrelevant. He's leaving yards on the field by missing open holes, and there is no stat to record that.


He's not getting the most of his carries. THAT is the problem.

 

[Alexander]

What JuJo has done statistically is irrelevant. He's leaving yards on the field by missing open holes, and there is no stat to record that.


He's not getting the most of his carries. THAT is the problem.

Well said.

 

[Alexander]

And that "whopping" 21 percent that gained 0 or less? The league average is about 20 percent.

A little perspective is always helpful.

So he's average then?

Isn't that what has been implied all along?

And what is wrong with wanting better than average?

 

[superpunk]

How do you know that's not good? Have you ever looked at what the typical percentages are for rushing attempts?

You said 36 percent of Julius' carries over the past nine games have been for 2 yards or less. Gee, that doesn't sound good -- until you realize that more than 44 percent of all carries in the NFL gain 2 yards or less.

And that "whopping" 21 percent that gained 0 or less? The league average is about 20 percent.

A little perspective is always helpful.

How many of those 2 yards or less carries are goalline - A situation where Julius is never in the game? I can't dispute your stats, because I don't know where you got them, and had to do the breakdown for Julius from the play by play, and I'm not doing that for anyone else.

Julius consistently puts us in bad situations over the past 9 games. It could be better, and I'd like it to be. He's not performing adequately right now. Maybe it's the platooinging system, and coincidentally he's getting ALL the hard carries, and Barber's just the beneficiary.

I think it could be alot better. It WAS alot better. But he's getting consistently worse.

 

[superpunk]

What JuJo has done statistically is irrelevant. He's leaving yards on the field by missing open holes, and there is no stat to record that.


He's not getting the most of his carries. THAT is the problem.

Missing open holes and going down with arm tackles.

That's a bit tough to swallow when the backup fights for every ounce he can get out of every play like someone slapped his mother.

 

[AdamJT13]

So he's average then?

Isn't that what has been implied all along?

And what is wrong with wanting better than average?

He's been "average" during his "slump" -- those numbers are just from the past nine games. Overall, his numbers are better than average.

 

[Rack]

He's been "average" during his "slump" -- those numbers are just from the past nine games. Overall, his numbers are better than average.

Which still doesn't show how many times he's missed open holes.

Is he average? Yes. If his vision were slightly better, he'd be much better then average.

 

[Bleu Star]

I can't believe so many Cowboys fans are being so hard on Jones when he is a STARTING running back averaging over 4 yards a carry.

Yes, Barber is averaging more as a backup, but all I've ever desired is a starter breaking the 4-yard mark. A thousand yards can be very misleading, but usually yards per carry can tell you whether your starter is being successful overall or not. (Although yards per carry for a backup can be more skewed by a few long runs.)

If Jones was averaging under 4, I could understand the uproar. But at 4.1, I think he has shown he deserves more respect than he's getting. Go back and look at the great Emmitt's career numbers — he only averaged more than 4.2 yards per carry (twice) in four of his 15 seasons.

To me this is simple. Jones is the streaky home run back that can bust one every blue moon but lacks the consistency required at the position. Sure he's averaging 4.1 but it's a lot of little runs balanced out by the occasional 30-40 yarder. Marion Barber is the efficient reliable consistent back that's gonig to bust someone's head open every time he touches the ball (and run off 6-10 yards easy). Why not swap roles and see if MB3 averages 4.1 or more as a starter? If that's the case then we've just improved our offense ten fold and made Romo's job that much easier. Just a thought.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Which still doesn't show how many times he's missed open holes.

Is he average? Yes. If his vision were slightly better, he'd be much better then average.

Is it his vision, or his decision-making process when picking a hole? If he's making bad decisions then maybe it can be corrected.

 

[theogt]

Is it his vision, or his decision-making process when picking a hole? If he's making bad decisions then maybe it can be corrected.

Whatever it is, it shouldn't be a problem at this point in his career. He shouldn't be regressing.

 

[DipChit]

He's been "average" during his "slump" -- those numbers are just from the past nine games.

Good thing we cant say the same thing about Romo or the last thing we'd be discussing is Jones.

Speaking of that do you see any correlation between the fact that Jones' "slump" seemed to start about the time Romo took over.. or is that just coincidence?

 

[AdamJT13]

How many of those 2 yards or less carries are goalline - A situation where Julius is never in the game?

I don't have that breakdown, but I do have some others.

On first-and-10 between a team's own 20- and 39-yard lines, more than 43 percent of all carries gain 2 yards or less -- and about 19 percent gain 0 or less.

On second-and-7 or more, more than 41 percent of all carries gain 2 yards or less, and about 18 percent gain 0 or less.

Those numbers are nearly identical to the overall percentages. And they're clearly situations when Julius gets many of his carries.

 

[AdamJT13]

To me this is simple. Jones is the streaky home run back that can bust one every blue moon but lacks the consistency required at the position. Sure he's averaging 4.1 but it's a lot of little runs balanced out by the occasional 30-40 yarder.

That's not true. Julius has been MORE consistent than the average back (his DVOA and PSR are both above-average), and his percentage of long runs (8.1 percent) and long-run yardage (36.4 percent) are both below the league averages. A higher-than-normal percentage of his carries and yardage have been in the 4- to 10-yard range.

 

[Jimz31]

LOL...now we are going to subtract long runs? Give me a break! Lets subtract his negative runs....after all, that's on the o-line.

 

[Alexander]

He's been "average" during his "slump" -- those numbers are just from the past nine games. Overall, his numbers are better than average.

Nine games is a "slump"? Strange definition you have there. I would consider a four or five game stretch appropriate for that label. And honestly, a few weeks ago, I thought he would snap out of it.

If this "slump" is indeed that, his whole career is nothing but one big slump minus eight quality games. That's his issue, no consistency.

 

[Alexander]

LOL...now we are going to subtract long runs? Give me a break! Lets subtract his negative runs....after all, that's on the o-line.

Negative runs can also be equated to bad vision and poor reads of his blocking. Were there not such a dramatic difference between Barber and his production behind the same line, nobody would say anything.

I mean, wouldn't our line be more tired late in games and that lead to Barber stuggling? That's not the case. So either we have the most well-conditioned line that makes stupid errors early, but gets more stamina and plays better as the game goes along, or we have something that points to the runner also.

 

[AdamJT13]

Nine games is a "slump"? Strange definition you have there. I would consider a four or five game stretch appropriate for that label. And honestly, a few weeks ago, I thought he would snap out of it.

If this "slump" is indeed that, his whole career is nothing but one big slump minus eight quality games. That's his issue, no consistency.

So anything other than a 100-yard game is a "slump"? That's laughable.

And if you have a back who is average to above-average during a "slump" and outstanding in one-fourth of his games, that's a pretty good player.

 

[Bleu Star]

Adam. Really man. Tell JJ not to stop drop and roll every time he sees an arm tackle and we wouldn't even be here discussing this right now.