The Forgotten Man? Or the Man on the Spot?
by vincent sample
Well, you don’t have to be a genius or read hear everyday to know my optimistic thoughts on the Cowboy’s chances of winning a championship next season. But with all the attention paid to the draft and acquisition of Carpenter to be the bookend Outside linebacker to Demarcus Ware – the controversy about picking up a Notre Dame tightend Fasano with our second round pick which was the harbinger of an even more controversial decision that the team would be switching to a new ‘Juiced-up’ version of the two-tightend set – And BOY!, less-we-forget we diiiid sign this guy, Terrel Owens, this off season who is only about the best receiver in the game — it seems that the man that just might be poised to finally explode in this league is almost an after though – Julius Jones.
It seemed that from the day Julius was picked the Cowboy’s fan base was luke-warm about him. Emmitt Smith had just been seemingly ousted with the arrival of Bill Parcells in 2002 and after the 2003 season with the sub par performance from then runningback Troy Hambrick, the obvious need for the Boys was a running back. The then consensus number one back in the draft was Steven Jackson of Oregon State. The prospects of Jackson being there with the 22nd pick were slim, but at least Dallas would probably have the next best guy, the speedy Kevin Jones of Virginia Tech fall into their laps. What happened? It seemed obvious – especially to oft disgruntle Cowboy fans who hate our owner – Jerry Jones struck again, highjacking the draft from our first year Hall of Fame head coach, traded down, trading away a shot at our back of the future completely out of the 1st round with Jackson siting right there. Many swore they would never be fans again. That trade produced Julius Jones with the 11th pick in the second round and 5th round pick TE Shaun Ryan. Now that may not be what exactly happened in the war room, but until Jones panned out, that was going to be the feeling.
Jones had a sometimes spectacular, but often up and down career for the Irish. He was one of only 4 players in Notre Dame history to rush for over 3000 yards. Even future Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis did not do that, and the 5-foot-10, 214 pound Jones did it in just 3 years because he had to sit out the 2002 season. He returned in 2003 to rush for 1,268 yards and 10 touchdowns, including 262 on 24 carries against rival Pitt at Heinz Field despite often splitting time and not starting every game. You can also add to that that the Irish had a miserable passing offense and everyone in the country knew it, and teams often keyed on Jones. He finished his four-year career at Notre Dame with 3,018 yards, 4.8 per carry and 26 touchdowns – Impressive.
Once he got to the pros, he had a promising training camp and preseason. But he hurt his ribs and tried to pull himself out of a game which lead Parcells, seemingly with a grudge to not him in the season opener – expectations where high and it was if Bill wanted to prove to the world that the team had done the right thing in taking Jones. Instead, in the first game of the season, Jones was hurt, and lost for half the season prompting the washed up Eddy George to be the feature back. That coupled with the rib injury and all the intense media lead to the perception of an injury prone player. The injury would turn out to be a broken collar bone ( not exactly an injury normally associated with being injury prone ). The team decided to leave Jones on the roster and some of the best, most exciting runs in Cowboy history would be the result. Jones returned to play in 7 games and finished the season with 819 yards. He had performances of 149, 150, and 198, and he showed a burst and a wiggle that seemed to some of us ‘sacrilegious fans’ to even top that of Emmit Smith.
That 7 games was enough to earn Julius endorsements and magazine covers as the ‘next big thing – to be’ in the NFL.
But a slow start and yet another injury in the 05 season showed Julius just how quickly the world can turn on you. Now you hear grumbling that this inconsistent back should be traded-in in favor of his stable mate Barber who had a few good games and who runs hard; That we should not be duped into thinking he is the back of the future. BALDERDASH!!! Now, I don’t normally use that word. And I’m not 100% certain I know what it means – but I know it’s in the family with YOU MUST BE CRAZY.
With nothing more than my credibility on the line ( I don’t get paid for my credibility so some of you may chalk this up to hyperbole ) but I guarantee that Jones is THE guy and will go so far as to stake my credibility on the fact that Julius gets over 1300 yards this season. Now that; despite the fact that he will be losing probably 8 carries a game to his stable-mates Barber, who will be used as a third down back and Thompson, who will be a change of pace. Julius is a dynamic and explosive back reminiscent of the greats. That is the reason why so many were willing to heap such praise on him with so few glimpses of his skills. It is that evident that quickly. But as in most cases with the media, they are too quick to praise and too quick to bury. Longevity and durability are major products in the equations that makes a great back, but I don’t think JJ is in the least injury prone. A break is something difficult to prevent. And anyone who says the Philly game in which Jones acquired his high ankle sprain, a lesser man might be lost for the season. It looked terrible, and it was not his fault. I will be the first to say, sometime a back has to have awareness and pack it in when the run is over, but Jones has never had that problem as a runner.
Throughout his short career, Jones has averaged whopping 5 yards per carry on sprints, draws, and traps. He is about at 3 per carry on power plays. Most of that can be attributed to the fact that that offensive line was not adequately equipped to block opponents when the opponents had a good idea of what was going to be run due to down, distance, and scheme. Also, in my opinion, Parcells, early on, had a hand in stunting Jones’s performance by schooling him not to give up negative plays. Listen, a good running back who makes his bones with quick moves and cutting is going to lose yards. Barry Sanders was the greatest culprit of that of all time. How Many Times Do I Have To Say It:, Julius Jones is not Ernest Byner. He is not a battering ram he is a gazelle poised to make great runs. To make great runs, often the back has to set up the situation – scheme does this with traps and draws, but in lue of scheme, a back has to create on his own. That leads to big runs sometimes and losses at others. When Parcells admonished Julius on this point, I saw opportunities lost by coaching on several plays I feel JJ could have broken. By the end of the season, with the season and the playoffs on the line, Parcells took of the handcuffs and JJ did much better turning in a 194 yard performance against one of the leagues toughest defenses.
Now that Parcells has seen the error of his coaching ways and JJ has a big chip on his sholder, I think 07 will be the break out year for Julius. The Cowboys offense is going to be a nightmare for opposing coordinators to scheme for. With the addition of T.O. it will difficult to impossible for safeties to play in the box. To me, T.O. had a lot to do with helping the smallish Brian Westbrook get his 28 million dollar contract. Jones is a better back than Westbrook. With Witten and Terry Glenn in the game it will be necessary for teams to protect the deep threat and the intermediate and underneath routes or risk being picked apart. But when you do that, you leave Jones to work that magic we have seen him do. The man is haaaaaaaard to tackle one-on-one in the open field. He is stronger than people give him credit of and as 4.4 forty speed. With the lanes given to him by T.O and the advent of the two-tightend offense, draws and traps are going to be a staple of the offense.
Mark my words, at the end of the 2008 season, all you naysayers will be praising Julius Jones as the next in the line of Hall of Fame Cowboy runningbacks. The Spotlite is waiting.
Well, you don’t have to be a genius or read hear everyday to know my optimistic thoughts on the Cowboy’s chances of winning a championship next season. But with all the attention paid to the draft and acquisition of Carpenter to be the bookend Outside linebacker to Demarcus Ware – the controversy about picking up a Notre Dame tightend Fasano with our second round pick which was the harbinger of an even more controversial decision that the team would be switching to a new ‘Juiced-up’ version of the two-tightend set – And BOY!, less-we-forget we diiiid sign this guy, Terrel Owens, this off season who is only about the best receiver in the game — it seems that the man that just might be poised to finally explode in this league is almost an after though – Julius Jones.
It seemed that from the day Julius was picked the Cowboy’s fan base was luke-warm about him. Emmitt Smith had just been seemingly ousted with the arrival of Bill Parcells in 2002 and after the 2003 season with the sub par performance from then runningback Troy Hambrick, the obvious need for the Boys was a running back. The then consensus number one back in the draft was Steven Jackson of Oregon State. The prospects of Jackson being there with the 22nd pick were slim, but at least Dallas would probably have the next best guy, the speedy Kevin Jones of Virginia Tech fall into their laps. What happened? It seemed obvious – especially to oft disgruntle Cowboy fans who hate our owner – Jerry Jones struck again, highjacking the draft from our first year Hall of Fame head coach, traded down, trading away a shot at our back of the future completely out of the 1st round with Jackson siting right there. Many swore they would never be fans again. That trade produced Julius Jones with the 11th pick in the second round and 5th round pick TE Shaun Ryan. Now that may not be what exactly happened in the war room, but until Jones panned out, that was going to be the feeling.
Jones had a sometimes spectacular, but often up and down career for the Irish. He was one of only 4 players in Notre Dame history to rush for over 3000 yards. Even future Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis did not do that, and the 5-foot-10, 214 pound Jones did it in just 3 years because he had to sit out the 2002 season. He returned in 2003 to rush for 1,268 yards and 10 touchdowns, including 262 on 24 carries against rival Pitt at Heinz Field despite often splitting time and not starting every game. You can also add to that that the Irish had a miserable passing offense and everyone in the country knew it, and teams often keyed on Jones. He finished his four-year career at Notre Dame with 3,018 yards, 4.8 per carry and 26 touchdowns – Impressive.
Once he got to the pros, he had a promising training camp and preseason. But he hurt his ribs and tried to pull himself out of a game which lead Parcells, seemingly with a grudge to not him in the season opener – expectations where high and it was if Bill wanted to prove to the world that the team had done the right thing in taking Jones. Instead, in the first game of the season, Jones was hurt, and lost for half the season prompting the washed up Eddy George to be the feature back. That coupled with the rib injury and all the intense media lead to the perception of an injury prone player. The injury would turn out to be a broken collar bone ( not exactly an injury normally associated with being injury prone ). The team decided to leave Jones on the roster and some of the best, most exciting runs in Cowboy history would be the result. Jones returned to play in 7 games and finished the season with 819 yards. He had performances of 149, 150, and 198, and he showed a burst and a wiggle that seemed to some of us ‘sacrilegious fans’ to even top that of Emmit Smith.
That 7 games was enough to earn Julius endorsements and magazine covers as the ‘next big thing – to be’ in the NFL.
But a slow start and yet another injury in the 05 season showed Julius just how quickly the world can turn on you. Now you hear grumbling that this inconsistent back should be traded-in in favor of his stable mate Barber who had a few good games and who runs hard; That we should not be duped into thinking he is the back of the future. BALDERDASH!!! Now, I don’t normally use that word. And I’m not 100% certain I know what it means – but I know it’s in the family with YOU MUST BE CRAZY.
With nothing more than my credibility on the line ( I don’t get paid for my credibility so some of you may chalk this up to hyperbole ) but I guarantee that Jones is THE guy and will go so far as to stake my credibility on the fact that Julius gets over 1300 yards this season. Now that; despite the fact that he will be losing probably 8 carries a game to his stable-mates Barber, who will be used as a third down back and Thompson, who will be a change of pace. Julius is a dynamic and explosive back reminiscent of the greats. That is the reason why so many were willing to heap such praise on him with so few glimpses of his skills. It is that evident that quickly. But as in most cases with the media, they are too quick to praise and too quick to bury. Longevity and durability are major products in the equations that makes a great back, but I don’t think JJ is in the least injury prone. A break is something difficult to prevent. And anyone who says the Philly game in which Jones acquired his high ankle sprain, a lesser man might be lost for the season. It looked terrible, and it was not his fault. I will be the first to say, sometime a back has to have awareness and pack it in when the run is over, but Jones has never had that problem as a runner.
Throughout his short career, Jones has averaged whopping 5 yards per carry on sprints, draws, and traps. He is about at 3 per carry on power plays. Most of that can be attributed to the fact that that offensive line was not adequately equipped to block opponents when the opponents had a good idea of what was going to be run due to down, distance, and scheme. Also, in my opinion, Parcells, early on, had a hand in stunting Jones’s performance by schooling him not to give up negative plays. Listen, a good running back who makes his bones with quick moves and cutting is going to lose yards. Barry Sanders was the greatest culprit of that of all time. How Many Times Do I Have To Say It:, Julius Jones is not Ernest Byner. He is not a battering ram he is a gazelle poised to make great runs. To make great runs, often the back has to set up the situation – scheme does this with traps and draws, but in lue of scheme, a back has to create on his own. That leads to big runs sometimes and losses at others. When Parcells admonished Julius on this point, I saw opportunities lost by coaching on several plays I feel JJ could have broken. By the end of the season, with the season and the playoffs on the line, Parcells took of the handcuffs and JJ did much better turning in a 194 yard performance against one of the leagues toughest defenses.
Now that Parcells has seen the error of his coaching ways and JJ has a big chip on his sholder, I think 07 will be the break out year for Julius. The Cowboys offense is going to be a nightmare for opposing coordinators to scheme for. With the addition of T.O. it will difficult to impossible for safeties to play in the box. To me, T.O. had a lot to do with helping the smallish Brian Westbrook get his 28 million dollar contract. Jones is a better back than Westbrook. With Witten and Terry Glenn in the game it will be necessary for teams to protect the deep threat and the intermediate and underneath routes or risk being picked apart. But when you do that, you leave Jones to work that magic we have seen him do. The man is haaaaaaaard to tackle one-on-one in the open field. He is stronger than people give him credit of and as 4.4 forty speed. With the lanes given to him by T.O and the advent of the two-tightend offense, draws and traps are going to be a staple of the offense.
Mark my words, at the end of the 2008 season, all you naysayers will be praising Julius Jones as the next in the line of Hall of Fame Cowboy runningbacks. The Spotlite is waiting.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:21 PM
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