Mendenhall or F. Jones

[JerryFan]

Felix Jones.

If he had stayed in school another year he'd be a top-5 pick in the '09 draft.

I think he's the most complete back in this draft.

Mendenhall would have been a better pick next year IMO over Felix Jones. Remember 'Shard is just a Jr. also and the complete package. 'Shard all the way baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[starfrombirth]

James Mendenhall is the better of the two, he can run over, around and make folks miss! He's got nice hands as well, I'd be ecstatic if Dallas drafted him!

Actually Charles had really good hands at that competition. And he is outright fast as well. If we got him in the 2nd or 3rd I would consider that a great pick. Not good, great! Still my druthers rating goes like this:

McFadden - DO NOT trade up to get him.

Stewart - Good, not great speed but has good vision and can't be brought down with an arm tackle.

Mendenhall - See above. Also has real good hands.

Jones - Blazing fast with great cutback abililty. As someone said earlier not great between the tackles but I think that had more to do with Arkansas' line than ability. There were NO inside holes this year.

Johnson - Possibly the fastest back in the country but has issues as I stated earlier.

Slaton - Great speed but he is a tiny back. I'm afraid he would break in half in the NFL. Yes I know Warrick Dunn was tiny as well, but I believe he is the exception to the rule and he was tackled easily as well (if you could get your hands on him )

 

[JerryFan]

I think both are fine backs, and would rate their chances of being successful pros about equal...

But they are decidely different backs, and Jones fits what the Cowboys need better than Mendenhall does... Mendenhall is similar to Barber, and I think he could handle 300-350 carries a year... Jones is better suited to operating in a RB rotation, sharing the carries with a back like Barber...

Since the Boys are apparently set on keeping Barber around, what we should be looking for is a RB that offers a different dimension... Barber is a pounder, a slasher, the "thunder"... so what the Boys need to pair with him is a guy with the outside speed, a guy who can be dangerous as a receiver, the "lightning"...

Mendenhall is thunder, Jones is lightning...

However, if you want lightning, you have Chris Johnson and Jamaal Charles, one of whom will still likely be on the board when the Boys draft in the second round, while Jones would almost certainly cost the Boys one of their first round picks... I think that Johnson and Charles have the potential to be very good pros, too...

I disagree with your description of 'Shard. I'm an Illini fan and have watched 'Shard for awhile and to me he isn't really anything much like Barber. He's bigger and faster for sure and strength is prolly a toss up. 'Shard has the breakaway speed JJ does, but superb vision, tackle breaking, and pass catching abilities. The only real thing 'Shard needs to get better at is blocking because he didn't have to do much of it at Illinois. 'Shard is going to be a monster in this league and I hope he does it for the Cowboys.

 

[Sarge]

Just goes to show you how deep this RB class is that a player like Slaton could be forgotten or viewed as an after thought. .

PRECISELY the reason it would be ill-advised to move up to grab McFadden.

 

[Sarge]

I'd be happy with either one - maybe Jones by a tad. It's close IMO.

 

[Cowboy Junkie]

What about Ray Rice in round 2. Very underrated back who reminds me of Emmitt would be a steal in round 2. rushed for over 2000 yards last year with 24 TDs

 

[Cowboy Junkie]

another back I like is Kevin Smith out of Central Florida...
AS good as Mcfadden may be there is no need to trade up for him too many good backs in this years draft and a few of these guys could be every bit as good a NFL player as Mcfadden.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Actually I'd be happy with either or. They're both fantastic and bring to the table what we need them to bring to the table.

 

[cobra]

What about Ray Rice in round 2. Very underrated back who reminds me of Emmitt would be a steal in round 2. rushed for over 2000 yards last year with 24 TDs

Ray Rice should only be drafted if a team is going to make a workhorse out him.

Like Emmitt was his whole career, he has to have a lot of carries to be successful. You can't him 15-20 carries a game and get anything out of him. He has to wear the other team down.

We don't need a back like that. We have Barber, and if we take a back, we need on that will split carries with him. Likely, the team is going to want a back which present a different problem to defenses. So instead of a pounder (which is what Rice is), you probably want someone who is speed juker. Rice is a slow plodder like Emmitt and not a good compliment for Marion.

 

[btcutter]

Of the two I think Mendenhall has the look of a more complete back. Felix reminds me a little of Kevin Jones.
I also prefer someone who has carried the load and CAN carry the load.
Personally, I almost feel like trading down from 1st into 2nd would give us better value pick at running back.
Ray Rice is probably the most consistent performer. I like that he has done it two years in a role without much supporting cast too. He'll be around in the 2nd.....maybe even early 3rd. Just depends on his combine numbers. Every year, someone shoots up the board because of combine numbers.

 

[Natedawg44]

Honestly there are going to be about 10 rookie Running backs I would be happier with than Julius. I would like it if we came out of the draft with 2 running backs. The value is really going to be in the 3rd and 4th round. You could see players like Slaton, Hart, Rice, Choice and Forte there that in any other year would have no business being that late.

 

[IlliniNation]

I'd take Mendenhall.

 

[the_h0wey]

Mendenhall can run people over and has break away speed. To me Jones seems more like a scat back. However, I think Jerry will go with the Arkansas boy.