Marion Barber or Julius Jones? Yes, please!

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, July 04, 2007  |  Comments( 4 )

Dallas Cowboys
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Maybe it's just the general ennui of the offseason or the general disproportionate influence of fantasy football, but there's a real non-controversy dominating the pre-preseason chatter about the Dallas Cowboys: Namely, is it Julius Jones or Marion Barber at halfback for Wade Phillips this season?

What to do with two guys, both of whom "have the ability to be 'the man' in Big D, or on any team in the NFL"? How to settle up between a pair of dudes both ranked in the top 30 (at least according to the "success rate" statistic from the always attention-worthy Football Outsiders) last season? How will newbie Cowboys coach Phillips deal with what a little Web site known as RealFootball365.com recently called "the battle for carries in Dallas"?

But, um, really wouldn't the 'Pokes and Phillips be best advised in not touching the two-back system they had going on in 2006? Seriously, wasn't such specialization deadly for both the 'Boys and for a trio of pretty good teams - the New Orleans Saints, the New England Patriots, and the Indianapolis Colts - last year?

Barber or Jones? The answer is simple: Yes.

For the sake of comparison, here's Julius "the Jones" Barber, Jr. III's line for the season: 402 carries for 1,738 yards on the ground, plus 338 yards receiving; all in all, the composite put the ball in the end zone 20 times. These numbers pale in comparison to LaDainian Tomlinson's monster year (348 carries for 1,815 yards for a 5.2 average, 500-plus yards receiving, 31 TDs), to be sure, but are nearly identical to the Kansas City Chiefs' terribly overused Larry Johnson's numbers: 416 attempts for 1,789 yards running, plus 410 receiving and a total of 19 TDs.

But J. Barber, Jr. III compared quite favorably to snubbed Super Bowl MVP Dominic Addai (413 carries for 1,722 yards, just under 2,300 total yards and 13 TDs) and New England's Corey Maroney (374 carries for 1,557 yards, 341 receiving and 20 TDs). And while New Orleans' Deuce Bush was unstoppable as an option by air, gaining a ridiculous 940 yards receiving on 118 catches, J. Barber actually outran the Saints, who earned 1,622 on 399 carries.

The only "problem" with the Cowboys' two-headed backfield guy is off the field. Way, way off the field, in fact, in the realms of America's fantasy football obsession.

Only here is "Jones or Barber?" a question, and again the answer is simple: No.

By the system RealFootball365's in-house league played last season (no, we won't be discussing the performance of my Wizards of Os), Jones and Barber suffer as marginal players.

Despite the fact that Barber led the league's third-highest scoring rushing offense while averaging a touchdown per game, he averaged below a meager 12 fantasy points per game -- being perhaps the best third-down/red-zone specialists in the game doesn't translate statistically. Jones, meanwhile, was a 1,000-yard rusher, but he was good for just about 9.5 points per game in 2006. Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick for most, was good for about 25 points per game in our league. The moral of the story? Don't draft either of these guys in your fantasy league unless it's really deep.

The knock on Barber is that his performance in the final five Cowboys games, for which using "dismal" is not enough at all; come on, four games with 15 yards rushing or fewer? Barber's drop-off in production can certainly be ascribed to many factors, though, including, say, the general meltdown of the team.

Jones has reportedly been subject of trade rumors "for months," but, if true, it seems rather a short-sighted move. The Colts let go of Rhodes because they were strapped by the salary cap; the Patriots' one-two punch dissolved thanks to Corey Dillon's retirement. Why would the Cowboys bust up what is now one of the sweetest running attacks in the NFL?

Another simple answer: They wouldn't.

Insights and opinion on the Dallas Cowboys all year 'round at RealFootball365.com
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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