MB3 - 2nd String Is Where He Belongs

[InmanRoshi]

MB3 will never be an aesthetically pleasing runner, but you look at the stat sheet at the end of the day and all he does is produce.

I wasn't too impressed with JJ last night. Still goes down at first contact every single play, and he still leaves too many yards on the field. He had a gigantic hole on the right side on the 2nd run, tapdanced in the backfield before hitting it and let it close up on him and got tripped up (by the first defender, natch) for only a 1 gain. This furthers my belief that JJ is at his best when he's "running like a robot", because he just doesn't have the instincts or vision. His good runs last night came when he hit the designated hole full speed without hesitation.


I'm still in favor of taking a RB early next year.

 

[Kangaroo]

Im sorry i disagree with most of you on here. i am a die hard cowboys fan, but i just dont like JJ at all. although he may be faster, the guy goes down on first contact,and as a fan watching that it makes me sick. Ive been campaiging for MB3 to be our starter since i first saw him run. i like his hard nose style and even when he loses yards it not on the first guy to hit him. And as for JJ being a home run threat, when was the last time he hit the homerun? its been a while. I really feel MB3 is the guy we need in the backfield he will get 3 to 4 everyplay and he might not break it all the way but if he gets through that first line hes going to lower the shoulder and lay the boom for some extra yards. He would be a great compliment to help our passing game even more. bottom line is MB3 is the key to a top 3 offense.

I rather see Tyson over MBIII start he just lacks the speed to be a consistent #1 starter imo. I like Barber as a change of pace back the plods along bring in to ram at people. That is me though. No I am not anti mb3 I just think he is limited due to speed and is a solid backup rb and is better of coming in for relieve than starting

 

[Concord]

I'd take and start Barber over Jones any day.

 

[JonJon]

Im sorry i disagree with most of you on here. i am a die hard cowboys fan, but i just dont like JJ at all.

Already it is easy to tell that you have an agenda against Jones, so no matter what he does you will always be critical of his performance.

although he may be faster, the guy goes down on first contact,and as a fan watching that it makes me sick. Ive been campaiging for MB3 to be our starter since i first saw him run. i like his hard nose style and even when he loses yards it not on the first guy to hit him.

I don't know about you, but if JJ goes down from the first hit after picking up 5 yards, I would take that over watching Barber dancing around breaking numerous tackles and only picking up 2 yards.

And as for JJ being a home run threat, when was the last time he hit the homerun? its been a while.

Go back and watch the playoff game against Seattle. Jones had a solid game and for a while, looked like the only Cowboy that wanted to win.

I really feel MB3 is the guy we need in the backfield he will get 3 to 4 everyplay and he might not break it all the way but if he gets through that first line hes going to lower the shoulder and lay the boom for some extra yards. He would be a great compliment to help our passing game even more. bottom line is MB3 is the key to a top 3 offense.

Didn't look like that last night. Barber only really produced when the 2nd unit came in and was tired. Against the 1st unit, which would be who the starter goes up against, he got stuffed and looked frustrated. I think he is best suited exactly where he is.

MB3 will never be an aesthetically pleasing runner, but you look at the stat sheet at the end of the day and all he does is produce.

I wasn't too impressed with JJ last night. Still goes down at first contact every single play, and he still leaves too many yards on the field. He had a gigantic hole on the right side on the 2nd run, tapdanced in the backfield before hitting it and let it close up on him and got tripped up (by the first defender, natch) for only a 1 gain. This furthers my belief that JJ is at his best when he's "running like a robot", because he just doesn't have the instincts or vision. His good runs last night came when he hit the designated hole full speed without hesitation.

You failed to mention the huge gain that Barber missed when he bounced the run left to the outside and should have taken it downhill through the open lane, but kept dancing sideways before getting taken down by a CB. Both RB's had faults last night.

I'm still in favor of taking a RB early next year.

I am with you on that one.

 

[Use Your Illusion]

Barber is the better RB, there's no doubt about that. If you let one pre-season game change your mind on that then you are a fool, plain and simple.

JJ is going to do exactly what he did last year, start the season out hot with a few 100 yard games, everyone jumps on his bandwagon "SEE I TOLD U JJ RULEZ!!" then as the season goes on and he gets a bit more tired, nicked up with injuries here and there, he's going to go back to sucking.

 

[Laker24diehard]

Barber should start, tyson thompson is way better than jones getting killed when tackled by the first defender, so jones should be 3rd stringer anyway he isn't sticking around much after his cheap contract expires. What a second round bust!

 

[Doomsday101]

I have been hard on Jones this off-season but he had 6 carries last night in pre-season game #1 I don't think that is a lot of info to go on right now as to how he may or may not perform this season.

 

[joseephuss]

Barber is the better RB, there's no doubt about that. If you let one pre-season game change your mind on that then you are a fool, plain and simple.

JJ is going to do exactly what he did last year, start the season out hot with a few 100 yard games, everyone jumps on his bandwagon "SEE I TOLD U JJ RULEZ!!" then as the season goes on and he gets a bit more tired, nicked up with injuries here and there, he's going to go back to sucking.

It is not that obvious that Barber is the better back. The race is even. One is not clearly better than the other. Both bring slightly different things to the back field. Unfortunately, one has not clearly demonstrated to be very good and take over as the starter and fortunately both work well enough to make a decent tandem. I would be fine with Julius anchoring the running game to a few early 100 yard games and then Barber taking over as the season progresses. Neither is probably going to be a 1300 yard a season back.

 

[AbeBeta]

Folks are cracking me up here.

Let's see -- we want a back with good speed like Jones who sees every hole and breaks lots of tackles.

Or we want a big strong back like Barber who has better speed and only runs downhill.

Do any of you realize that those backs are few and far between?

Why not add that you want a back who can carry 40 times a game and routinely breaks off 200 yard games? Oh yeah, he should get at least 80 receptions too.

 

[coach316]

Folks are cracking me up here.

Let's see -- we want a back with good speed like Jones who sees every hole and breaks lots of tackles.

Or we want a big strong back like Barber who has better speed and only runs downhill.

Do any of you realize that those backs are few and far between?

Why not add that you want a back who can carry 40 times a game and routinely breaks off 200 yard games? Oh yeah, he should get at least 80 receptions too.

LMAO Well said!

I for one was impressed with what I saw from both backs.

Did you not see JJ running with authority? Several times he lowered his shoulder and delivered decisive blows to the defender. Once destroying his tackler for a couple more yards he wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

And MB3 was making cuts and making guys miss, something he hasn't really shown before. Damn near broke the ankle of one defender on a play juking him out of his shorts for an extra 5-6 yards before going out of bounds. He may be slower than JJ but he still produces.....they both do.

If I have any complaints out of our running game, it was from the O-line. While not horrible, there were way too many times defenders got penetration into the backfield forcing the backs to change their path right after getting the ball. They shouldn't have to make a tackler miss before the line of scrimmage as often as they did last night. But, it's preseason....and we had two young guys in at the bookends. I have faith that will be shored up before the season opener.

 

[JonJon]

Barber is the better RB, there's no doubt about that. If you let one pre-season game change your mind on that then you are a fool, plain and simple.

JJ is going to do exactly what he did last year, start the season out hot with a few 100 yard games, everyone jumps on his bandwagon "SEE I TOLD U JJ RULEZ!!" then as the season goes on and he gets a bit more tired, nicked up with injuries here and there, he's going to go back to sucking.

And what proof do you have that Barber is indeed the better back? Since it is foolish to think otherwise, I would like to see your evidence.

Barber should start, tyson thompson is way better than jones getting killed when tackled by the first defender, so jones should be 3rd stringer anyway he isn't sticking around much after his cheap contract expires. What a second round bust!

You might want to consider not posting again.

 

[dargonking999]

Folks are cracking me up here.

Let's see -- we want a back with good speed like Jones who sees every hole and breaks lots of tackles.

Or we want a big strong back like Barber who has better speed and only runs downhill.

Do any of you realize that those backs are few and far between?

Why not add that you want a back who can carry 40 times a game and routinely breaks off 200 yard games? Oh yeah, he should get at least 80 receptions too.

See, if we would have traded for Larry, or Drafted Jackson, we woud have that already

 

[Sarge]

Not a huge fan of Julius, but he looked like he hit the hole harder last night and that has been my main gripe about him. It was refreshing to see him run like he stole it for a change.

 

[Use Your Illusion]

And what proof do you have that Barber is indeed the better back? Since it is foolish to think otherwise, I would like to see your evidence.

All you have to do is watch the games last year to see who the better runner is. The offense consistently moves the ball and finds the end zone when Barber is in the game. Aside from the first few weeks of last season, JJ was absolutely terrible. The only reason we're still talking about him is because of what he did in a few games in his rookie year.

 

[AbeBeta]

All you have to do is watch the games last year to see who the better runner is. The offense consistently moves the ball and finds the end zone when Barber is in the game. Aside from the first few weeks of last season, JJ was absolutely terrible. The only reason we're still talking about him is because of what he did in a few games in his rookie year.

Yeah, aside from the MOST IMPORTANT GAME of the season. That's a good one to ignore.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

All you have to do is watch the games last year to see who the better runner is. The offense consistently moves the ball and finds the end zone when Barber is in the game. Aside from the first few weeks of last season, JJ was absolutely terrible. The only reason we're still talking about him is because of what he did in a few games in his rookie year.

It's idiotic posts like this that cause all the bickering. Most of us recognize that both backs have flaws and are generally about the same level of player, but then you have to have some guys make outrageous comments like this and people have to defend the guy being attacked.

What I hate about it is that, for instance, if someone argues that Julius isn't "absolutely terrible", it makes it look like they dislike Barber. I think everyone loves how hard Barber plays -- how could you not? Doesn't mean he's a quality starting workhorse NFL back, though.

 

[joseephuss]

All you have to do is watch the games last year to see who the better runner is. The offense consistently moves the ball and finds the end zone when Barber is in the game. Aside from the first few weeks of last season, JJ was absolutely terrible. The only reason we're still talking about him is because of what he did in a few games in his rookie year.

Watch the last three games of last year. That was three straight losses to the Eagles, the Lions and the Seahwawks in the playoffs. Barber had 16 carries, 22 yard, 1.38 average and 1 TD. Jones had 42 carries, 177 yards, 4.21 average and 0 TDs. It shows that Barber was not good and Jones was nothing special. Where do you go from there? I think it has been brought up many a time and that is to try and find a top back next year.

 

[VA Cowboy]

All you have to do is watch the games last year to see who the better runner is. The offense consistently moves the ball and finds the end zone when Barber is in the game.

haha...that's because we normally wait until we already marched inside the 5 yard line before we put Barber in.

 

[Concord]

haha...that's because we normally wait until we already marched inside the 5 yard line before we put Barber in.

What Barber never helped us get inside the 5?

 

[Clove]

Barber and Crayton, please don't try to juke. Although Barber nearly juked someone out of their drawers last night for a 1st down.