Jones may never be better than Mendenhall, but he’s better for Dallas

By Anthony Bialy  |   Thursday, May 15, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

Dallas Cowboys
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They may not be paired for life like Manning and Leaf, but first-round rushers selected back-to-back by good teams after each left college early are inevitably fated to be linked. Unfairly or not, Felix Jones and Rashard Mendenhall will be compared to each other for as long as each or just one holds a job in the league.

Heightening the comparison is that some have expressed surprise over the fact that, with Mendenhall still available, the Cowboys went with Jones, letting the ostensibly more valuable Illinois star fall exactly one pick to Pittsburgh. But Dallas’ reasoning can be seen as logical from the perspective that it made a decision between two alternatives that every front office must regularly ponder: The team went with the player that matched its needs rather than the player who was the best available. The only thing that makes things odd in this case is that the two options in question happen to man the same position.

From the Cowboys’ outlook, they didn’t need a second dump truck on the depth chart: Listed as 5-foot-10 and 224 pounds by the Steelers, Mendenhall possesses size that is in the same vicinity as current top Dallas back Marion Barber, who is 6-0 and weighs 221 pounds. They’re both closer to sledgehammers than rubber kitchen mallets.

And, as one would expect from a back whose build is similar to Barber’s in that he has to turn slightly to fit through doorframes, the Illini alumnus plays a style that is similar to the veteran Cowboy. He’s renowned for heading between the tackles and choosing to initiate contact with incoming defenders, and drafting him would have meant that Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett would basically have the choice between two brutally physical running backs. It’s like narrowing dinner’s options down to either Chili’s or Applebee’s: They’re close enough that it doesn’t really matter.

On the other hand, Dallas’ chosen back projects to play like a better version of the previous Jones, leaning more on speed and finesse as current Seahawk Julius did. The contrast between the Cowboys’ present veteran runner and the former Razorback, the latter of whom will try to burn defenses by heading to the outside, is almost as important as the abilities of each respective back themselves.

The Cowboys don’t need two of the same thing, and Felix Jones will serve to attack a different area of the field than his partner. Although some remain puzzled about Jones’ selection, largely because management took a rusher with its first chance despite Barber’s auspicious showing last season when he was granted a heavy workload, the reality is that he did need a harmonizing back who could be effective in a different manner. That’s true regardless of in which round the new player was acquired.

Irrelevant of whether Mendenhall’s statistics eventually surpass those put up by Jones in the pros, the crucial point is that Dallas’ pick fills an open hole in its roster. The numbers each player attains will be beside the point: The Steelers’ new prize might gain an extraordinary amount of yardage, but it’s unlikely that he would have fit well enough with Texas’ senior team to ever get on the field frequently and do the same.

Conversely, Dallas added a draft pick who’s obviously talented but who more importantly provides the famously necessary change of pace in the ground attack. If the Cowboys had to pick a running back, Jones was the right back to pick.
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CommentsComments: 4  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
bardley80		08:50 AM
05/15/2008
You can't overlook that Felix Jones went to Arkansas, and Jerry Jones probably wanted him based a lot on that alone.
No.2
everending		03:38 PM
05/15/2008
The best pick is in the eye of the beholder. When filling your team's needs, yeah, a lot of the times you end up drafting someone...
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No.3
GissoniC		03:03 PM
05/16/2008
Yeah but... all and all.... Dallas had other options... Felix Jones is a good player but he was certainly overrated... Even if he...
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