Mosley: X Factor Felix Jones

[dbair1967]

Felix is the X factor for this franchise for the next several years. I still think, even with his big games lately, that people don't realize just how good he is. He's a very rare talent. All he has to do is stay healthy.

Yep, agree 100%

He's a special player. We're a totally different team when he is healthy.

 

[CoCo]

How many times do we have to hear this?

Kickoff returns are not the same as carries!
Kickoff returns are not the same as carries!
Kickoff returns are not the same as carries!
Kickoff returns are not the same as carries!
Kickoff returns are not the same as carries!

I don't disagree. But my comments are equally applicable to his carries out of the backfield as his KO returns.

Felix looks uncomfortable without a clear seam/hole to attack. He bogs down, looks nervous and indecisive, unlike Emmitt or Tony who both looked quite comfortable waiting and evaluating where to go.

Not intended to be a slam. Obviously Felix is contributing mightily. Its just in a manner for a RB that Dallas has never seen IMO.

 

[DFWJC]

He went out on a limb re: the relatively slight frame part.

Felix has a pretty thick lower body for a guy with his speed...and he's not really skinny up top either. I wonder about these writers sometimes...

 

[DFWJC]

I know that it's popular to say that we should have taken Chris Johnson instead of Felix. Honestly though, if given the carries, then I'm 100% confident that Felix could break 2000 yards too.

CJ >> Felix
But I still love what Felix brings and barring those nagging injuries, he should be a 1300+ yard back for us next year.

That was just an amazing crop of RBs last year. In very rough order that is completely open to debate:
CJ, Rice, Felix, Stewart, Mendy, Charles, Choice, Forte, Forsett, K Smith, ....etc...WOW!!!

 

[dbair1967]

CJ >> Felix
But I still love what Felix brings and barring those nagging injuries, he should be a 1300+ yard back for us next year.

I think if Jones got anywhere near the carries CJ got, the production would be similar. In 15 games this yr (counting postseason Jones has 833 yds on only 132 carries, thats an incredible 6.3 yds per rush. Johnson had a great yr, but he also got 358 carries. If Jones had got 358 carries and had the same yds per carry he has so far, he'd have had 2259 yds.

I think a good case can be made that at this point CJ is a better receving option but Jones is improving.

 

[DFWJC]

I think if Jones got anywhere near the carries CJ got, the production would be similar. In 15 games this yr (counting postseason Jones has 833 yds on only 132 carries, thats an incredible 6.3 yds per rush. Johnson had a great yr, but he also got 358 carries. If Jones had got 358 carries and had the same yds per carry he has so far, he'd have had 2259 yds.

I think a good case can be made that at this point CJ is a better receving option but Jones is improving.

Man, I KNOW you know better that. You can never project YPC like that...never. There is a threshold on number of caries where your ypc goes down no matter how great you are. Felix was right about at that threshold already.

Once you start getting 20-25 carries a game that ypc goes way down.

I love Felix, so I'll leave it at that.

 

[Eskimo]

Mendenhall would not have been a bad choice. He was fantastic for the Steelers after Parker got hurt, and also showed he could catch the ball.

Jones is a more explosive player which fits better right now, but I wonder if you aren't better off in the long run with the workhorse....

Jones, Mendenhall, and of course, Chris Johnson. Dallas couldn't have gone wrong with any of them, even though I'm not usually keen on taking RBs in the first round.

My only complaint with Jones (not really a complaint about him) is that they just don't get him involved enough. He's clearly a better RB than Barber, yet when healthy, they keep feeding Barber the ball more than FJ.

Haven't you heard - our front office is infallible - Felix Jones was a worse RB than Barber until Barber's third carry against the Eagles when his knee didn't feel good. Prior to then, Barber was the better player and that's why he was starting.

[edited due to silly error]

 

[dbair1967]

Man, I KNOW you know better that. You can never project YPC like that...never. There is a threshold on number of caries where your ypc goes down no matter how great you are. Felix was right about at that threshold already.

Once you start getting 20-25 carries a game that ypc goes way down.

I love Felix, so I'll leave it at that.

Perhaps, but you have no way to prove it in regards to Jones.

His yds per carry went up in each of his last 4 games. And in 3 of the 4 he set a career high for carries each time.

I dont know if he'll ever get to the point where he gets 300+ carries per season, simply because we have Barber and Choice here.

 

[CoCo]

Perhaps, but you have no way to prove it in regards to Jones.

His yds per carry went up in each of his last 4 games. And in 3 of the 4 he set a career high for carries each time.

I dont know if he'll ever get to the point where he gets 300+ carries per season, simply because we have Barber and Choice here.

If Barber and Choice were in Tennessee do you think that CJ's touches would go down? Not by much would be my guess.

 

[2much2soon]

First, IIRC, Felix wouldn't make it because he was Darren Mcfadden's caddy at Arkansas.

Then it was because Felix couldn't run inside. Despite the fact his very first NFL carry was a 4-tackle-breaking 11 yard TD run up the gut against Cleveland. And despite the fact that he regularly runs inside with success when given the chance.

Then it was because he is injury prone. Even though he never had a serious injury before his first year in the NFL.

Now he is built too slight? Even though he looks about like most of NFL backs?

Dude has got to be the most criticized NFL RB with 6.5 yard avg, in history.

 

[CoCo]

If Felix is truly CJ's equal, and is durable, and can run inside as well as outside then why in the world would you make this guy share carries?

Would you make Tony Dorsett share carries with Barber & Choice?

I just find it real difficult to reconcile the many posters claims of greatness with his part-time status.

But maybe his part-time status is starting to change. I want all we can get out of this guy.

 

[chuffly]

First, IIRC, Felix wouldn't make it because he was Darren Mcfadden's caddy at Arkansas.

Then it was because Felix couldn't run inside. Despite the fact his very first NFL carry was a 4-tackle-breaking 11 yard TD run up the gut against Cleveland. And despite the fact that he regularly runs inside with success when given the chance.

Then it was because he is injury prone. Even though he never had a serious injury before his first year in the NFL.

Now he is built too slight? Even though he looks about like most of NFL backs?

Dude has got to be the most criticized NFL RB with 6.5 yard avg, in history.

Then again, he's the only NFL RB with a 6.5 yard average in history.

 

[chuffly]

If Felix is truly CJ's equal, and is durable, and can run inside as well as outside then why in the world would you make this guy share carries?

Injuries, reluctance to bench a running back that has been very good in the past, and not knowing what Felix can do.

Don't forget that CJ was sharing major carries with Lendale friggin' White last year. So don't act like this is something that is only unique to Felix.

Heck, even if Felix is CJ's equal (which I won't make any claims of), I'd still want him sharing a decent number of carries with Choice. I don't see any reason for Felix to ever eclipse the 20 carry mark in a game with the backups we have.

 

[LeonDixson]

If Felix is truly CJ's equal, and is durable, and can run inside as well as outside then why in the world would you make this guy share carries?

Would you make Tony Dorsett share carries with Barber & Choice?

I just find it real difficult to reconcile the many posters claims of greatness with his part-time status.

But maybe his part-time status is starting to change. I want all we can get out of this guy.

I think it's because our coaching staff has a different philosophy, CoCo. And they may be worried, right or wrong, about injury.

 

[LeonDixson]

Man, I KNOW you know better that. You can never project YPC like that...never. There is a threshold on number of caries where your ypc goes down no matter how great you are. Felix was right about at that threshold already.

Once you start getting 20-25 carries a game that ypc goes way down.

I love Felix, so I'll leave it at that.

You are right. He hit that wall. His YPC went from 9+ to 6+.:

 

[Eskimo]

I really don't want to abuse Felix. I want him to have a long, successful career here. That means we need to limit his carries and limit the number of big hits he receives.

My goal would be to limit him to about 250 carries per regular season - about 16 carries/game would do the trick. This means we other running backs to take half the carries. This would mean a good all-purpose back and maybe a short-yardage bruiser type to take up some of the other carries.

The disadvantage of such a system is Felix won't light up the record books like Emmitt did. However, it also does mean that we have a RB who should be fresh in the playoffs and hopefully have a long career so we won't have to worry about finding such a talent for another 6-8 years at the position. The other guys to fill out the RB by committee approach will be easier to find and replace as mediocre RBs are a dime-a-dozen.

I hope to get Felix some more actions by putting him in the passing attack more so he won't have as many big bodies crashing up against him. We need to be creative about finding ways to get Felix in space with the ball in his hands and a head of steam.

 

[dbair1967]

If Barber and Choice were in Tennessee do you think that CJ's touches would go down? Not by much would be my guess.

If they had just gave Barber 40+ mils...yeah, they would...he'd be splitting time

 

[Thomas82]

If Felix is truly CJ's equal, and is durable, and can run inside as well as outside then why in the world would you make this guy share carries?

Would you make Tony Dorsett share carries with Barber & Choice?

I just find it real difficult to reconcile the many posters claims of greatness with his part-time status.

But maybe his part-time status is starting to change. I want all we can get out of this guy.

I feel the same way.

 

[DFWJC]

You are right. He hit that wall. His YPC went from 9+ to 6+.:

Funny. You know what I'm saying. So double those carries and where is he? 4ypc maybe? 4.5 at best? Hard to say. That is my point. Usually the law of averages says more carries means lower average...it's no insult, it's just how it is. If you carry a large workload, then you'll often have a lower average.

Even after 358 carries (which is too many long term, btw), CJ still averaged 5.6 ypc....which is outerworldly. His ypc carry was pulled down, of course, because when you have that workload you also get the short yardage 1-2 yard 1st down dive plays....instead of having LD White do it for you like he had last year.

I will say this, I'd love to see Felix get the chance to have 300 carries--because if he can somehow handle it without breaking down and can also deliver the short, hard yards, we really do have a superstar. He's great already, imo.