JPostSam
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which running back has done a better job, and why? as good as marion barber has been this year, i'm not convinced that he's been better than julius jones. yes, his yards-per-carry average has been better. but his long of 28 is not any better than julius's long of 25. and his receiving has not been better than julius's. (see stats below.)
why is this interesting? because barber comes in on third downs -- ostensibly because he is a better pass-catching threat than jones is -- which means a few things. it means that, when jones is in on first and second downs, the defense knows that there is a high likelihood of him getting the ball on the ground. it also means that, when barber is in, the defense is not sure whether he'll even get the ball -- and if he does, whether it'll be a run or a pass.
something i have not studied -- but someone should -- is what kind of plays the two backs are being given to run. i've seen some people comment that barber seems to be getting the ball on plays whose design would favor jones; some even say that those are the plays he broke open last season. i would even mention that many of barber's carries have come later in the game, when the defense is tired, compared to jones's game-starting drives. neither of these has been the case across the board, since both players have had the ball during all parts of the game and both have run similar plays at various times, but they definitely should be looked at.
anyone with insight on this, please share it!
rushing:
Julius Jones 196 685 3.5 25 3
Marion Barber 116 470 4.1 28 5
receiving:
REC YDS AVG LNG TD
Julius Jones 28 195 7.0 26 0
Marion Barber 11 67 6.1 21 0
why is this interesting? because barber comes in on third downs -- ostensibly because he is a better pass-catching threat than jones is -- which means a few things. it means that, when jones is in on first and second downs, the defense knows that there is a high likelihood of him getting the ball on the ground. it also means that, when barber is in, the defense is not sure whether he'll even get the ball -- and if he does, whether it'll be a run or a pass.
something i have not studied -- but someone should -- is what kind of plays the two backs are being given to run. i've seen some people comment that barber seems to be getting the ball on plays whose design would favor jones; some even say that those are the plays he broke open last season. i would even mention that many of barber's carries have come later in the game, when the defense is tired, compared to jones's game-starting drives. neither of these has been the case across the board, since both players have had the ball during all parts of the game and both have run similar plays at various times, but they definitely should be looked at.
anyone with insight on this, please share it!
rushing:
Julius Jones 196 685 3.5 25 3
Marion Barber 116 470 4.1 28 5
receiving:
REC YDS AVG LNG TD
Julius Jones 28 195 7.0 26 0
Marion Barber 11 67 6.1 21 0
