Shake_Tiller
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I wonder if the closest parallel to Marion Barber in Cowboys’ history is Robert Newhouse. Like Newhouse, Barber runs much tougher than his size would suggest, and he might not have the breakaway speed and elusiveness to be a true, full-time tailback. But like Newhouse, Barber is a quality player and a valuable running back.
Newhouse’s most productive season was 1975 when he rushed for 930 yards (4.4 yards/carry) during a 14-game regular season. Extrapolating this stats into a 16-game season, Newhouse would have run for 1,063 yards.
Barber rushed last year for 975 yards (4.8 yards/carry). He averaged 60.9 yards/game. In 1975, Newhouse rushed for 66.4 yards/game.
In 1975, Newhouse also caught 34 passes and averaged 8.1 yards/catch. Over a 16-game season, that equates to 39 receptions. Last year, Barber caught 44 passes (6.4 yards/catch).
On a 16-game basis, Newhouse was responsible for 1,377 yards from scrimmage during 1975. In 2007, Barber was responsible for 1,257 yards from scrimmage.
For those who don’t recall, Newhouse was no one-season wonder. He ran for 4,787 yards in his career, averaging 4.1 yards/carry. In fact, Newhouse’s 1974 season was not dissimilar to Barber’s.
In ’74, Newhouse rushed for 501 yards, averaging 4.0 yards/carry. Over 16 games, that equates to 573 yards. In 2006, Barber rushed for 654 yards (4.8 yards/carry).
Like Barber, Newhouse brought tremendous energy to the Cowboys offense. Many of his runs were highlight film/quality, and his unwillingness to be tackled often brought the fans to their feet.
It’s true that Newhouse played a lot of fullback. But the position was different in those days and in the Landry offense. The fullback was a productive ball carrier. In 13 games in 1969, Walt Garrison rushed for 818 yards (4.6 yards/carry). In 1972, he ran for 784 yards in 14 games (4.7 yards/carry).
In fact, one might argue that there are parallels between Barber and Garrison. Barber = Newhouse? Garrison? For those who think this is some slight of Barber, please think otherwise. Newhouse and Garrison were great football players.
But Dallas drafted Dorsett in 1977. The Cowboys also drafted Calvin Hill in 1969 and Duane Thomas in 1970. Perhaps showing signs of the hubris that plagued later Cowboys drafts under Gil Brandt, amazingly, Dallas also picked RB Bill Thomas in the first round in 1972… and RB Charley Young in 1974.
It’s true that Dallas was forced to trade-up only for Dorsett. Hill and Thomas fell in the Cowboys’ lap, but at that time, Dallas was pretty confident that a player it had ranked in its top 10 – especially one from Yale or West Texas State (where Duane Thomas played fullback, while Mercury Morris played halfback) – would slide down the board. Dallas was confident that other teams could not match its famous “computerized” draft preparation.
By 1977, teams were on a more level playing field, and there wasn’t a chance that Dorsett would be drafted later than #2. By the way, the trade up for Dorsett was contingent upon Tampa Bay taking the ill-fated Ricky Bell with the first pick. Dallas had no interest in trading up for Bell.
My usual long-winded point: Not only are there parallels between Barber and Newhouse, or indeed between Barber and Garrison (though less perfect), there also are parallels between the conditions of those times.
In 1977, fresh from falling just short of its ultimate goal, Dallas determined that it needed, yeah, more “juice” in its offense and a more explosive running back. Tex Schramm did what was necessary to trade up for Dorsett. It wasn’t a particularly surprising move, given that Dallas – even with a strong running game – had taken the same approach just a few years earlier, first drafting Hill (who became known as “SuperRook”), then drafting Duane Thomas, the latter of which played a large role in getting the Cowboys into two Super Bowls, the latter of which became the team’s first world championship, when it beat Miami.
Surely Schramm/Landry/Brandt considered the first dynamic when deciding to make a bold move to get Dorsett.
If all this appears to be an endorsement of a trade up to get Darren McFadden, that’s really not the case. First of all, we have no idea that the current Cowboys regime has McFadden rated on a plane that would make fair a comparison to the Dorsett situation. Beyond that, the game has changed, and one can make a strong argument that the running game is not nearly as important now – in the days of handcuffed defensive backs and short passing attacks – than it was in the 1970s.
But I do distrust the analysis of some of the pundits. You will hear “Teams can get running backs in any round,” but that is true of virtually every position. Heck, it would appear that you can get a Pro Bowl quarterback as an original free agent. You will also see lists of RB “busts” littered through the first 10 picks of the draft. But there are busts at every position, and I’ve seen no evidence that RBs are more or less likely to be busts. Maybe there is evidence. I haven’t seen it. What is true that RBs chosen early, like QBs, are at high profile positions, their performances are more statistics-trackable than players at many positions, and their “bust” status is likely to be more noticeable and easier for fans to discern quite quickly.
I also read that some recent “great” running backs haven’t gotten to the Super Bowl. I find this an absurd position. O.J. Simpson starred for terrible teams. Jim Brown failed to overcome Bart Starr. The Bears didn’t win a Super Bowl until Walter Payton was in the twilight of his career. Then as now, teams win Super Bowls.
Great players at many positions were unable to vault their teams to championship prominence… Anthony Munoz, Dick Butkus, Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones, Charley Taylor, Roger Wherli, Jackie Smith, John Brodie, Jimmy Johnson (49ers CB), Jim Hart, Dan Fouts… and on and on and on.
The key is to put together a collection of stars, a strong supporting cast, and a healthy, winning locker room. Some luck also is useful. Teams can win with great RBs (Dorsett, Duane Thomas, Emmitt Smith, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen… etc.), and they can win with a solid running game that doesn’t really feature a big-time running game. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat.
My point is really to note that there are pretty striking parallels at work this year between the Cowboys past, present, and hopefully, future. McFadden might not be a worthwhile target, but it’s a mistake to simply dismiss the idea based on the dubious analysis of some in the punditry.
Newhouse’s most productive season was 1975 when he rushed for 930 yards (4.4 yards/carry) during a 14-game regular season. Extrapolating this stats into a 16-game season, Newhouse would have run for 1,063 yards.
Barber rushed last year for 975 yards (4.8 yards/carry). He averaged 60.9 yards/game. In 1975, Newhouse rushed for 66.4 yards/game.
In 1975, Newhouse also caught 34 passes and averaged 8.1 yards/catch. Over a 16-game season, that equates to 39 receptions. Last year, Barber caught 44 passes (6.4 yards/catch).
On a 16-game basis, Newhouse was responsible for 1,377 yards from scrimmage during 1975. In 2007, Barber was responsible for 1,257 yards from scrimmage.
For those who don’t recall, Newhouse was no one-season wonder. He ran for 4,787 yards in his career, averaging 4.1 yards/carry. In fact, Newhouse’s 1974 season was not dissimilar to Barber’s.
In ’74, Newhouse rushed for 501 yards, averaging 4.0 yards/carry. Over 16 games, that equates to 573 yards. In 2006, Barber rushed for 654 yards (4.8 yards/carry).
Like Barber, Newhouse brought tremendous energy to the Cowboys offense. Many of his runs were highlight film/quality, and his unwillingness to be tackled often brought the fans to their feet.
It’s true that Newhouse played a lot of fullback. But the position was different in those days and in the Landry offense. The fullback was a productive ball carrier. In 13 games in 1969, Walt Garrison rushed for 818 yards (4.6 yards/carry). In 1972, he ran for 784 yards in 14 games (4.7 yards/carry).
In fact, one might argue that there are parallels between Barber and Garrison. Barber = Newhouse? Garrison? For those who think this is some slight of Barber, please think otherwise. Newhouse and Garrison were great football players.
But Dallas drafted Dorsett in 1977. The Cowboys also drafted Calvin Hill in 1969 and Duane Thomas in 1970. Perhaps showing signs of the hubris that plagued later Cowboys drafts under Gil Brandt, amazingly, Dallas also picked RB Bill Thomas in the first round in 1972… and RB Charley Young in 1974.
It’s true that Dallas was forced to trade-up only for Dorsett. Hill and Thomas fell in the Cowboys’ lap, but at that time, Dallas was pretty confident that a player it had ranked in its top 10 – especially one from Yale or West Texas State (where Duane Thomas played fullback, while Mercury Morris played halfback) – would slide down the board. Dallas was confident that other teams could not match its famous “computerized” draft preparation.
By 1977, teams were on a more level playing field, and there wasn’t a chance that Dorsett would be drafted later than #2. By the way, the trade up for Dorsett was contingent upon Tampa Bay taking the ill-fated Ricky Bell with the first pick. Dallas had no interest in trading up for Bell.
My usual long-winded point: Not only are there parallels between Barber and Newhouse, or indeed between Barber and Garrison (though less perfect), there also are parallels between the conditions of those times.
In 1977, fresh from falling just short of its ultimate goal, Dallas determined that it needed, yeah, more “juice” in its offense and a more explosive running back. Tex Schramm did what was necessary to trade up for Dorsett. It wasn’t a particularly surprising move, given that Dallas – even with a strong running game – had taken the same approach just a few years earlier, first drafting Hill (who became known as “SuperRook”), then drafting Duane Thomas, the latter of which played a large role in getting the Cowboys into two Super Bowls, the latter of which became the team’s first world championship, when it beat Miami.
Surely Schramm/Landry/Brandt considered the first dynamic when deciding to make a bold move to get Dorsett.
If all this appears to be an endorsement of a trade up to get Darren McFadden, that’s really not the case. First of all, we have no idea that the current Cowboys regime has McFadden rated on a plane that would make fair a comparison to the Dorsett situation. Beyond that, the game has changed, and one can make a strong argument that the running game is not nearly as important now – in the days of handcuffed defensive backs and short passing attacks – than it was in the 1970s.
But I do distrust the analysis of some of the pundits. You will hear “Teams can get running backs in any round,” but that is true of virtually every position. Heck, it would appear that you can get a Pro Bowl quarterback as an original free agent. You will also see lists of RB “busts” littered through the first 10 picks of the draft. But there are busts at every position, and I’ve seen no evidence that RBs are more or less likely to be busts. Maybe there is evidence. I haven’t seen it. What is true that RBs chosen early, like QBs, are at high profile positions, their performances are more statistics-trackable than players at many positions, and their “bust” status is likely to be more noticeable and easier for fans to discern quite quickly.
I also read that some recent “great” running backs haven’t gotten to the Super Bowl. I find this an absurd position. O.J. Simpson starred for terrible teams. Jim Brown failed to overcome Bart Starr. The Bears didn’t win a Super Bowl until Walter Payton was in the twilight of his career. Then as now, teams win Super Bowls.
Great players at many positions were unable to vault their teams to championship prominence… Anthony Munoz, Dick Butkus, Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones, Charley Taylor, Roger Wherli, Jackie Smith, John Brodie, Jimmy Johnson (49ers CB), Jim Hart, Dan Fouts… and on and on and on.
The key is to put together a collection of stars, a strong supporting cast, and a healthy, winning locker room. Some luck also is useful. Teams can win with great RBs (Dorsett, Duane Thomas, Emmitt Smith, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen… etc.), and they can win with a solid running game that doesn’t really feature a big-time running game. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat.
My point is really to note that there are pretty striking parallels at work this year between the Cowboys past, present, and hopefully, future. McFadden might not be a worthwhile target, but it’s a mistake to simply dismiss the idea based on the dubious analysis of some in the punditry.
