Just Wondering... Marion Barber

[Angus]

He was a great rb. But dallas didnt know how to use him or he would have been better.

Right!!

 

[Trendnet]

Barber was great in the role he had early in his career. He was so good in short yardage and goal line situations that even though he was backing up Julius Jones he made the pro bowl. When his legs were kept fresh he was money in short yardage situations and closing out games. Once Jerry signed him to a big contract thinking he could do every down what he could do situationally it was down hill from there. I knew with MB's seek and destroy style that he wouldn't last long as a workhorse. Even Parcells when asked why he wouldn't start Barber said he wouldn't be as effective every down. He was kept fresh and did most of his damage against tired defenses in the 3rd and 4th quarter.

When the Cowboys (Jerry) decided to start him over Julius in the 07 playoffs vs the Giants he burned out after a great first half of over 100 yards rushing for only 26 yards in the second half. The Cowboys could have used his fresh legs in the second half of that game. Barbers rock em sock em style wasn't conducive to longevity. He was a between the tackles runner who didn't have the speed to get outside. As a starter defenses would stack the box knowing he didn't have the speed to take it to the house from 70 yards out. The Giants saw that during the 07 playoffs when he broke out into the open field in the first half and was quickly chased down.

I agree with this.

I felt at the time that starting Barber for that game was a mistake. The Cowboys were 13-3 with Jones starting and Barber being the closer. Having him fresher in the second half would have been more beneficial.

 

[Aikmaniac]

Thanks for posting the vid. Haven't seen that one before.

I can't believe some of you are comparing Barber to Troy Hambrick.

What a disappointment Hambrick was...I've never seen grass blades make more tackles on a running back than #42. He had one good game in that mudfest in Washington and that was it.

Barber played his butt off each and every game until his body gave out. I don't think he's comparable to any Dallas running back because of his style...maybe Walt Garrison I guess.

 

[Crown Royal]

I'm in the minority but I never thought it was his running style or us making him a full time back that led to his downfall. Look at all those runs where he looked great up the middle. Then look at the blocking, and his patience in setting them up.

Finally consider how crappy our run blocking has been since 2009. It isn't as if we have had a ton of other great rbs here since then. I think Murray is a little bit of a better player, but Doesn't matter who is back there. You need to block.

We run too many running plays where the lineman end up on the ground.

 

[joseephuss]

Thanks for posting the vid. Haven't seen that one before.

I can't believe some of you are comparing Barber to Troy Hambrick.

What a disappointment Hambrick was...I've never seen grass blades make more tackles on a running back than #42. He had one good game in that mudfest in Washington and that was it.

Barber played his butt off each and every game until his body gave out. I don't think he's comparable to any Dallas running back because of his style...maybe Walt Garrison I guess.

I was never disappointed in Troy Hambrick because I never thought he would be a good starting running back in the first place. I always saw him as a back up.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

ron springs is who i'd compare him to.

barber was a lot of fun for that short span where he could really play with reckless abandon.

I think Ron Springs was better. I'd put him ahead of Julius Jones.


Emmitt
TD
Herschel
Perkins
Hill
Moose
Newhouse
Springs
Garrison
MB

I would rank Murray behind Herschel right now if he could have a healthy season. By next year, he will be on this list.

 

[JohnsKey19]

I think Ron Springs was better. I'd put him ahead of Julius Jones.


Emmitt
TD
Herschel
Perkins
Hill
Moose
Newhouse
Springs
Garrison
MB

I would rank Murray behind Herschel right now if he could have a healthy season. By next year, he will be on this list.

I'd have to see 2 relatively healthy seasons from Murray before i put him ahead of Barber. While everyone can see Murray's talent, he's been more of a tease due to unfortunate injuries. Barber b/t 06-09 was a significant component to whatever success the team had during that time.

 

[Eddie]

Barber should never have been our feature back. He didn't have the speed to make teams respect the run.

Our decision to draft Felix the Complimentary RB is one of the biggest jokes of Jerry's glorious career here.

 

[JohnsKey19]

Barber should never have been our feature back. He didn't have the speed to make teams respect the run.

Our decision to draft Felix the Complimentary RB is one of the biggest jokes of Jerry's glorious career here.

Yeah. It's easy to say that now. But at the time of that draft, pairing Felix's supposed explosive ability with Barber's power appeared to be a nice match. Again, at the time. Felix's acceleration and speed were reported to be something unique even at the NFL level. Unfortunately we saw maybe only 5-7 plays over 5 seasons where he could demonstrate that big play ability.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I'd have to see 2 relatively healthy seasons from Murray before i put him ahead of Barber. While everyone can see Murray's talent, he's been more of a tease due to unfortunate injuries. Barber b/t 06-09 was a significant component to whatever success the team had during that time.

That's fine. If you look at the numbers, Murray is already way ahead of MB 4.18 to 4.8 in average yards per carry and the majority of MBs numbers were done behind a much better OL then Murray has had to work with. I guess mainly, I just pay attention to how Defenses treat each of them. Defenses were not afraid of MB. They new they had to respect him but they were not afraid of him. I don't get that sense with Murray. I think Defenses are afraid of him.

However, I have no problem with your opinion. You want to see him healthy. We all do. I just think that even missing games as he does now, he's already better then MB and few others on the list. Of course, that is just my opinion.

 

[KJJ]

Thanks for posting the vid. Haven't seen that one before.

I can't believe some of you are comparing Barber to Troy Hambrick.

What a disappointment Hambrick was...I've never seen grass blades make more tackles on a running back than #42. He had one good game in that mudfest in Washington and that was it.

Barber played his butt off each and every game until his body gave out. I don't think he's comparable to any Dallas running back because of his style...maybe Walt Garrison I guess.

Barber compared very favorably to Hambrick starting in 09. MB suffered a quad injury early that season that caused the turf monster to register a number of tackles against him. He wasn't healthy and the heavy workload took a lot of steam out of his legs that could drive through a fortress when he was kept fresh. When he would break into the open field he would immediately start to stumble down reminiscent of what we saw with Hambrick once the extra carries started taking their toll on him. The 09 season was the beginning of the end for Barber.

The biggest similarity between him and Hambrick was how their YPC dropped off after they became starters. While backing up Emmitt Hambrick averaged 4.7, 5.1 and 4.0 YPC. He was very effective spelling Emmitt which made everyone think he would be a great starter. The first season he became the starter in 03 his average dropped to 3.5.

It was the same thing with Barber he was great backing up Julius which had everyone calling for him to start. While backing up Julius in 06 and 07 Barber averaged 4.8 both seasons. The first season he became the starter in 08 his rushing average dropped to 3.7. His rushing average was down to 3.3 his final season with the Cowboys in 2010. As a short yardage back and closer in 06 and 07 Barber scored 24 TD's and never averaged less than 4.8 per carry. As the starter for 3 seasons he exceeded 4.0 per carry only once and scored 18 TD's.

It's clear he was a much more effective back in the role the Cowboys had him in. MB's rise and fall was pretty dramatic and Parcells repeatedly told the media that were calling for Barber to start in 06 that MB would not be nearly as effective as an every down back and he was right.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Yeah. It's easy to say that now. But at the time of that draft, pairing Felix's supposed explosive ability with Barber's power appeared to be a nice match. Again, at the time. Felix's acceleration and speed were reported to be something unique even at the NFL level. Unfortunately we saw maybe only 5-7 plays over 5 seasons where he could demonstrate that big play ability.

I think this is a matter of opinion. At the time, I hated the pick and I still do. I never thought Felix was going to be an impact runner for us. I always felt like he would be a guy who got 5 or 10 carries a game and would produce 30 or 40 yards. Didn't really even turn out to do that. That's not good value for a 1st round pick. Nice guy but never liked the pick.

 

[Birch_Wood]

Watching a highlight video of Marion "The Barbarian", and man was he so fun to watch with his short time here. Just wondering where you guys would place him among Dallas all time running backs. I know he's no Smith, Dorsett, or Walker, but it was great while it lasted. Who can ever forget the longest 2 yard run against the Pats?

http://youtu.be/T10HhTt2XJk

Great highlights, fun to watch. I remember well his tough play and unfortunately, remember his sad fade.

 

[landroverking]

Barber is little more than a minor footnote in the history of the franchise.

X2. Maybe not even that.

 

[muck4doo]

Barber would always bull rush his way into the end zone. I miss that.

 

[vaturkey]

Once he started to get beat on he lost his quickness. I remember towards the end of his cowboy career he would keep on trying to get to the outside and had neither the speed or quickness to get there. He was never big enough to take the pounding over a sustained period of time. I'll say this if you could have taken his heart and soul and put it into Julius Jones body you would have had something really special.

 

[Tex]

Oh come on. I would rate below Walt Garrison if thats a clue. I mean he had a couple dent years. Do you guys have any clue how many really good backs we have had that only lasted a few years? Remember Duane Thomas? We rode him hard and he took us to the Super Bowl. Gone in a couple years. What was kid from Harvard or Yales name that tore them up for a couple years. Was it Hill?


Look Barber was OK. Part of a nice ROTATION at RB. Thats all. You are way way over rating him all time.

 

[Cowboy_Shawn]

If we're talking about the 2nd tier Cowboy backs, with guys like Smith and Dorsett being 1st tier, I'd say that MBIII was one of the top 2 or 3 in that 2nd tier.

Right now I have him slightly above DeMarco Murray.

 

[Cowboy_Shawn]

Oh come on. I would rate below Walt Garrison if thats a clue. I mean he had a couple dent years. Do you guys have any clue how many really good backs we have had that only lasted a few years? Remember Duane Thomas? We rode him hard and he took us to the Super Bowl. Gone in a couple years. What was kid from Harvard or Yales name that tore them up for a couple years. Was it Hill?


Look Barber was OK. Part of a nice ROTATION at RB. Thats all. You are way way over rating him all time.

I think part of the problem is that many of us are fairly young and didn't get a chance to see guys like Thomas or Calvin Hill in person.

My personal history with the Cowboys only dates back approximately 30 years. I grew up on Dorsett, Walker, and Emmitt. So if I'm just looking at those 30 years I'd have to rank Barber fairly high.

 

[Tex]

He was a flash in the pan. Couldnt even be a starter. he was a change of pace back for a couple years.