Please Don’t Trade Our Starting Tailback
By Rafael Vela
Blog regular
Luke makes the case for keeping
Julius Jones. Take it away, Luke:
I don’t see the appeal in trading Julius Jones and am surprised it’s being considered even if only half heartedly. As
Jarhead has pointed out, who do you replace him with? Should go into this season relying solely on
Marion [Barber] and
[Tyson] Thompson (who is coming off a serious injury)?
Squidlo97 said earlier “my biggest question on Julius is why he didn’t run all year like he did against Seattle?”
I’ve heard this quite a few times on the blog and the answer is simple if you go look at his carries. He got 22 against the Seahawks for 112 yards. The last time he got over twenty carries was in the victory against the undefeated Colts in week 10. He had 20 for 79 with 3 receptions for 25. 105 total yards for the game, good no?
In fact every time Julius received the substantial amount of carries he put up solid numbers.
– Wk1 Jags – 17 for 72 at 4.2 (1 for 39 = 18 for 111 total)
– Wk2 Skins – 20 for 94 at 4.7
– Wk3 Titans – 23 for 122 at 5.3
– Wk4 Eagles – 26 for 100 at 3.8 (1 for 22 = 27 for 122)
– Wk5 Texans – 22 for 106 at 4.8
– Wk7 Panthers – 24 for 92 at 3.8
– Wk8 Skins – 20 for 73 at 3.7
– Wk10 Colts – 20 for 79 at 3.9 (3 for 25 = 23 for 104 total)
Eight games total where he received 17 or more carries.
Over these eight games he had 172 carries for 860 yards at a 5.0 average per carry.
Per game average over those eight games was 21.5 carries at 107.5 yards.
Even at this high rate of carries Jones was safe with the ball. He only fumbled once all year (week 2 against the Skins) in his 267 carries.
In the last six weeks Jones only got 65 carries and only rushed for 271 yards (4.1 average) but a lot of that came from one run, the 77 yarder against the Saints. To me this was also the period that the Oline started to wear down. Gurode was becoming inconsistent again and Rivera was melting right before our eyes.
With the Oline performance sinking this might be the reason that so many late carries were given to Marion Barber because he is more physical and better at yards after contact and creating his own hole and pushing the pile.
Julius also only caught 9 passes all year. I can’t fathom this. On his 9 catches he had 142 yards. That’s almost a 16 yard average per reception. Yet they only found a way to get him the ball nine times. I am hopeful however that
Jason Garrett can find a way to get him the ball in the receiving game. Garrett’s former team the Dolphins got RB
Ronnie Brown 33 receptions in 07.
Norv Turner, of whom I’ve heard Garrett’s offense might take some influence, found a way to get the ball into
Frank Gore’s hands 61 times in the receiving game. Getting Julius into space is his strength, when he has space or a hole he looks as good as anyone in the league, why we didn’t try to get Julius into receiving space last year is beyond me and hopefully something that is rectified in 2008.
Is Jones the new
Emmitt Smith? No, and we may never see the like of him again. But Jones is a solid back who has big play potential and he might play even better this year if he just gets the carries or at least a more even distribution. Marion had the advantage of coming into the game in the forth fresh against tired defenders. If Julius got some of those carries I think the stats show he could have made some plays too. It’s not a knock on Marion, I think he’s a great backup but I think his style would wear him out over whole season.
The signing of
Chunk Davis for RG at the least should greatly improve the run blocking inside. Kozier, Gurode and Chunk could form an effective inside run blocking trio. Julius Jones could benefit more than any player from this new group. The new offense might also benefit Julius greatly if it involves getting the running back drawn into the passing game.
I see Julius Jones primed for a big season. The free agent additions and the new coaching style could favour him greatly. He is also in the last year of his contract and still has plenty to prove so motivation will not be an issue. What’s the real value in trading him for a second round pick even in the unlikely event we get offered it?
Outside of Peterson I can’t see anyone who could come in as a rookie and offer more than what Julius could give us this year and Peterson is way out of our range. Why not ride Julius hard this year? Forget the ‘worrying about Jones longevity’ that
Bill Parcells wrought over and make full use of his talents, he might just have a super season and remind us of the freakish player we saw in his rookie year.
