Julius Jones Comparisons?

[cobra]

I was thinking about Julius. He impressed me last year (as he did for everyone else). But, what I noticed about him is that it his speed burst that is his key. He's not necessarily a top speed guy; he doesn't seem to be amazingly shifty; he's definitely not a power guy; he does't seem to be a deliberate runner.

He seems to have very good top end speed, pretty good shiftiness, which, when matched with his amazing speed burst, allows him to do some pretty impressive things.

So, who is a comparable runner? I'm curious, because I'm wondering what his shelf life will be.

Because, I suspect that when Julius's speed burst goes, he will have to change his running style. And, that speed burst will go at some point, whether be age or an injury that takes it. Emmitt didn't rely so much on speed, so when he slowed a step he still was productive.

So, which runner (historical or present) is like Julius? Who are the comparables?
If he can be as good as he looked at times last year, how many good years do you think we get out of him?

 

[LaTunaNostra]

I've seen the Dorsett comparisons, but I don't think JJ is as rare a talent.

Some folks used to call Dorsett "Peyton-Light", and not as an insult. JJ, now at least, strikes me as Dorsett-Light.

The back he most reminds me of is Freeman McNeil.

 

[Letemburn]

Like a lot of people say. Curtis Martin

 

[Roughneck]

Like a lot of people say. Curtis Martin

I think Curtis Martin is an excellent comparison, especially with Parcells involved.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

He's stronger than Curtis, more powerfully built. He has superior outside speed too..that will have to play itself out.

He has the potential to be more of an "impact" feature back. Cumar, a workhorse, typically has only a handful of long runs a year. He's a great back, and like ES, has a combination of intangibles that transcend size and speed, but Jones appears more "talented" than Martin, imo.

 

[StevenOtero]

Emmitt-Lite , or 2.0 or Emmitt XP , or Emmitt Vista , or Emmitt Server 2006

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Thurman Thomas comes to mind.

I said this when he was drafted but honestly, LT is the guy that he most reminds me of today. Tomlinson is a little bigger but that's who I see that has the same kinds of ability right now.

 

[kmp77]

Emmitt-Lite , or 2.0 or Emmitt XP , or Emmitt Vista , or Emmitt Server 2006

As long as he's not Emmitt ME.

 

[JDSmith]

Lotta good names thrown out, but I think they are missing the point. It's not what guy you can compare Julius to, it's how long until others are compared to Julius. By next year someone will be saying 'This kid reminds me of Julius Jones' because Julius will be lighting it up.

 

[jobberone]

I think Curtis Martin is more of an Emmitt clone.

Julius reminds me of a bigger Dorsett. He runs more like him than Emmitt. JMO

He reminds me of Dorsett, OJ(leave the politics and whatnot out please), and a little Sayers. That's just running styles. He can't be compared to them for a few years and a few thousand yds career wise.

 

[THUMPER]

I'd say he reminds me most of Dorsett. Not as fast but stronger. Style-wise he reminds me a lot of Emmitt.

 

[Fletch]

Thurman Thomas comes to mind.

I said this when he was drafted but honestly, LT is the guy that he most reminds me of today. Tomlinson is a little bigger but that's who I see that has the same kinds of ability right now.

Just about SPOT ON ABQCOWBOY! I automatically think of Thurman Thomas when I think of Julius. But Julius has more speed and a little more wiggle in his hips than Thurman IMHO.

Tomlinson could be another pretty good comparison, but Tomlinson is a little more thick all around. They say Julius has put on some weight and bulked up. No doubt he'll be better this year than he was last year. And last year, for the limited amount of time he played, he played as well as he could given the time frame, and the average play of our O-line.

 

[STREAK84]

Julius actually reminds me alot of Ahman Green with his running style.

 

[ravidubey]

Julius is stiffer than Dorsett and is not as natural a receiver. He seems to burst through traffic faster than either Tony or Emmitt. His combination of north-south speed between through the tackles and in traffic is the best I can remember Dallas having (except of course when Herschel Walker found a gaping wide hole) and that is a major compliment given the great backs the Cowboys have had. If Julius could somehow improve not only his pass-catching skills but also his agility, he would become the next great Dallas running back.

Most of the time Herschel Walker would stutter step when running between the tackles, and was best running a slant to a designated hole. No one was faster than Walker once in the open field and Dallas has never had a better downfield receiving back because of it. However, Herschel was such a square target that he was terrible at juking defenders and even sometimes his own blockers, and this was a poor match with the ponderous OL Dallas fielded in the late 1980's.

Dorsett was faster and much more agile than Julius (or anyone, for that matter) running to the outside. I've never seen an NFL back accelerate to just outside the tackle and cut upfield faster than Tony could. He was also so shifty I rarely recall him taking square hits from defenders despite his turning upfield so far infield from the sidelines. He was also the best at running screen passes I've can recall in Dallas as he was small enough to hide, had good hands and field presence, and was elusive and quick enough to escape closing linemen who had caught on to the misdirection.

Emmitt reminded me most of a more more powerful and compact Marcus Allen. Emmitt could start, stop, and start again like Allen was known to do. But Emmitt's stature and awesome balance allowed him to do things Allen could only dream of, such as bouncing off of defenders in traffic and making them bounce off of him. Who in the NFL have you ever seen with that "bouncing" ability? Emmitt was truly special and gifted.

 

[THUMPER]

Julius is stiffer than Dorsett and is not as natural a receiver. He seems to burst through traffic faster than either Tony or Emmitt. His combination of north-south speed between through the tackles and in traffic is the best I can remember Dallas having (except of course when Herschel Walker found a gaping wide hole) and that is a major compliment given the great backs the Cowboys have had. If Julius could somehow improve not only his pass-catching skills but also his agility, he would become the next great Dallas running back.

Most of the time Herschel Walker would stutter step when running between the tackles, and was best running a slant to a designated hole. No one was faster than Walker once in the open field and Dallas has never had a better downfield receiving back because of it. However, Herschel was such a square target that he was terrible at juking defenders and even sometimes his own blockers, and this was a poor match with the ponderous OL Dallas fielded in the late 1980's.

Dorsett was faster and much more agile than Julius (or anyone, for that matter) running to the outside. I've never seen an NFL back accelerate to just outside the tackle and cut upfield faster than Tony could. He was also so shifty I rarely recall him taking square hits from defenders despite his turning upfield so far infield from the sidelines. He was also the best at running screen passes I've can recall in Dallas as he was small enough to hide, had good hands and field presence, and was elusive and quick enough to escape closing linemen who had caught on to the misdirection.

Emmitt reminded me most of a more more powerful and compact Marcus Allen. Emmitt could start, stop, and start again like Allen was known to do. But Emmitt's stature and awesome balance allowed him to do things Allen could only dream of, such as bouncing off of defenders in traffic and making them bounce off of him. Who in the NFL have you ever seen with that "bouncing" ability? Emmitt was truly special and gifted.

Great post!

 

[ravidubey]

Great post!

Considering the source I must consider that high praise indeed, thanks!

 

[wxcpo]

I know this is probably not the popular opinion and will prbably cause alot of guys to get all upset, but Karim Abdul Jabbar, James Allen, Mike Anderson, Reggie Brooks or Ricky Bell take your pick. Well he doesn't really remind me of any of those guys, but my point is all those guys had at least 1 good season and were never heard from again.

I think some here are really going overboard in comparing JJ to any HoF running back. I am pulling for the guy as hard as qnyone here, but I am not going to mention him and Dorsett or Thurman Thomas in the same breath until he proves it in more than 3 games. I hope he one day proves he is worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Dorsett, but until that day he simply reminds me of JJ.

 

[JDSmith]

I know this is probably not the popular opinion and will prbably cause alot of guys to get all upset, but Karim Abdul Jabbar, James Allen, Mike Anderson, Reggie Brooks or Ricky Bell take your pick. Well he doesn't really remind me of any of those guys, but my point is all those guys had at least 1 good season and were never heard from again.

I think some here are really going overboard in comparing JJ to any HoF running back. I am pulling for the guy as hard as qnyone here, but I am not going to mention him and Dorsett or Thurman Thomas in the same breath until he proves it in more than 3 games. I hope he one day proves he is worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Dorsett, but until that day he simply reminds me of JJ.

Ricky Blake had a good preseason and played MAYBE 2 regular season games ever, in spot duty. Not sure how he compares. As for Julius proving it in more than 3 games, he already has. He played well in every game and got better as the season progressed. He carried the load when we had no passing game at all and churned out tough yards in his 'bad' games.

Adbul Jabbar played pretty consistently throughout his somewhat short career. He was about a 3.5 yard per carry back.

Mike Anderson played for Denver, I could get 1000 yards rushing for Denver.

Reggie Brooks I don't know anything about, he looks like he had one good year for Washington, I'm guessing from the number of games played in his second year he got hurt.

Ricky Bell didn't do anything until his 3rd year in the league, and it was his only good year.

Sorry, I don't see how any of those guys compare to Julius. Watching Julius run it's obvious that he has some very rare skills. Whether or not he can have a long career is yet to be seen, but he clearly has the ability. But hey, if you want to tell yourself that Julius is like those guys, more power to you.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Julius is stiffer than Dorsett and is not as natural a receiver. He seems to burst through traffic faster than either Tony or Emmitt. His combination of north-south speed between through the tackles and in traffic is the best I can remember Dallas having (except of course when Herschel Walker found a gaping wide hole) and that is a major compliment given the great backs the Cowboys have had. If Julius could somehow improve not only his pass-catching skills but also his agility, he would become the next great Dallas running back.

I agree with this for the most part. Good description of all three, especially the "burst" description of Jones.

Most of the time Herschel Walker would stutter step when running between the tackles, and was best running a slant to a designated hole. No one was faster than Walker once in the open field and Dallas has never had a better downfield receiving back because of it. However, Herschel was such a square target that he was terrible at juking defenders and even sometimes his own blockers, and this was a poor match with the ponderous OL Dallas fielded in the late 1980's.

I somewhat agree with this. Walker's stutter step did not just appear when he came to Dallas....it was the same way he ran at Georgia and in the USFL. That was just his style. His lateral movement was nowehere near on par with Emmitt, Julius, or Tony D. But he was a completely different back. He was a power back with sprinter's speed. I disagree he was a poor match with the OL we had then, in fact, it was probably perfect for him. With that same line his first two years, his yards per carry were better than Dorsett's, and in his thrid year he had over 1500 yards rushing. Hardly a poor fit.

Dorsett was faster and much more agile than Julius (or anyone, for that matter) running to the outside. I've never seen an NFL back accelerate to just outside the tackle and cut upfield faster than Tony could. He was also so shifty I rarely recall him taking square hits from defenders despite his turning upfield so far infield from the sidelines. He was also the best at running screen passes I've can recall in Dallas as he was small enough to hide, had good hands and field presence, and was elusive and quick enough to escape closing linemen who had caught on to the misdirection.

Dorsett's top end speed was faster, but I think Julius is just as fast to the corner. Look at a couple of the highlights, there are several plays where you think there is no way that he is going to make the corner and he does. It is amazing. Dorsett was very good with the screen for sure.

Emmitt reminded me most of a more more powerful and compact Marcus Allen. Emmitt could start, stop, and start again like Allen was known to do. But Emmitt's stature and awesome balance allowed him to do things Allen could only dream of, such as bouncing off of defenders in traffic and making them bounce off of him. Who in the NFL have you ever seen with that "bouncing" ability? Emmitt was truly special and gifted.

I don't think that is a great comparison. In fact, I can't compare the two at all. Allen was a long and lean guy more in the mold of Eric Dickerson. Emmitt was a slower version of Barry Sanders. But I think Emmitt was more effective that Sanders because took what was there. If the hole wasn't there, he was more likely to just try and pound his way forward. Sanders on the other hand would dance around, and most often lose yards, but every once and a while have one of those unbeleivable highlight runs. You know, it is really hard to pigeonhole Emmitt's style. To me, he was a one of a kind. The total was surely greater than the sum of the parts.

 

[wxcpo]

Ricky Blake had a good preseason and played MAYBE 2 regular season games ever, in spot duty. Not sure how he compares. As for Julius proving it in more than 3 games, he already has. He played well in every game and got better as the season progressed. He carried the load when we had no passing game at all and churned out tough yards in his 'bad' games.

Adbul Jabbar played pretty consistently throughout his somewhat short career. He was about a 3.5 yard per carry back.

Mike Anderson played for Denver, I could get 1000 yards rushing for Denver.

Reggie Brooks I don't know anything about, he looks like he had one good year for Washington, I'm guessing from the number of games played in his second year he got hurt.

Ricky Bell didn't do anything until his 3rd year in the league, and it was his only good year.

Sorry, I don't see how any of those guys compare to Julius. Watching Julius run it's obvious that he has some very rare skills. Whether or not he can have a long career is yet to be seen, but he clearly has the ability. But hey, if you want to tell yourself that Julius is like those guys, more power to you.

Ok did you actually read my post or did you just wanted to be the first to try and respond with something witty?

Please show me where I ever said anything about Ricky Blake, I think you are confusing Blake with Bell.

I said in my post that JJ didn't really remind me of any of those guys, I was merely making a point that those guys all had at least 1 good season and then faded away. JJ does show some great abilities, but I want to see him stay healthy and I want to see him play great in more than 3 games before I utter his name in the same breath with guys like Dorsett, Thurman Thomas or Curtis Martin. That's my point, he showed off some great abilities last season, but hey remember Timmy Smith?