Jones and Barber battle for carries in Dallas

By Carlos Zepeda  |   Friday, June 01, 2007  |  Comments( 7 )

Dallas Cowboys
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One of the hottest trends in the NFL is the dual running back system.

Last season, four of the top five rushing teams in the league featured at least two dynamic runners, including running quarterbacks like Michael Vick and Vince Young.

Atlanta led the NFL in rushing with Warrick Dunn, Vick and Jerious Norwood. Jacksonville used Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew. Washington lost Clinton Portis to injury but found an excellent replacement in Ladell Betts, who signed a long-term contract with the Redskins late in the season after being reassured that he would split carries with Portis in 2007 and beyond. Lastly, Tennessee had one primary back in Travis Henry, but Young still finished with 558 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

San Diego, led by the nearly unstoppable LaDainian Tomlinson, was the only team with one primary back to make the top five. Tomlinson was the main runner, but his backup, Michael Turner, will be more involved in 2007.

The Cowboys switched to the two-back system in 2004 when Julius Jones was a rookie. So far it hasn't led to the same success as Atlanta, which has been the top rushing offense in the NFL for three years.

Jones has been forced to split carries with Marion Barber for the last two seasons, and both years the Cowboys have finished 13th in the league. Together, Barber and Jones produced 1,738 yards and 20 total touchdowns in 2006. Jones has expressed his desire to be the featured back in Dallas, but new head coach Wade Phillips has a history of using two RBs.

In five seasons as an NFL head coach, Phillips has had only one 1,000-yard rusher (Buffalo's Antowain Smith finished with 1,124 yards in 1998).

Last year Barber exploded, leading the Cowboys with 16 total touchdowns. He became the goal-line specialist, getting the majority of the snaps toward the end of the season. Jones, meanwhile, became the first Cowboy running back to break the 1,000-yard mark since Emmitt Smith ran for 1,021 in 2001.

Both players will be playing for contract extensions in the upcoming season. Jones will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, but the Cowboys have yet to make an attempt to re-sign him. Barber will be a restricted free agent next year, and Dallas has the right to match any offer if it wants to keep him.

With two first-round picks in the 2008 draft, Dallas could keep either Jones or Barber and target a running back like Ray Rice (Rutgers). If juniors Darren McFadden (Arkansas) and Steve Slaton (West Virginia) leave school early, it would make a very strong running back class. It'd be hard for the Cowboys to pass on all of that big-play ability.

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