Jones carrying the load
03:15 PM CDT on Thursday, October 5, 2006
IRVING – Remember when the talk during training camp was a running back by committee?
Turns out, it's not so much a committee.
Through three games, Julius Jones has 60 carries for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Marion Barber has 20 carries for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
What running game coordinator Tony Sparano has done is maximize Jones' effectiveness. Twenty carries seems to be about right for Jones, especially in Bill Parcells' world, where there are only a precious few every-down backs like he had in Curtis Martin in New England and New York.
Physically, Jones is the same player he was a year ago: he's 5-10, 211 pounds. But he looks entirely different.
He is showing more speed to the outside. He is hitting the hole quicker. He is taking what is being given to him.
"Julius is well in advance of where he was a couple of years ago as a runner," Parcells said. "He sees it. He knows. His bad decisions are fewer and fewer. I think he's relaxed to the point now to where you can talk to him about other things other than the play and how to read that play."
There's more to being a running back than just running, especially to Parcells. It's an art, in a way, to the coach. But even Parcells can't describe it exactly. What he sees Jones doing is looking over a defense before he gets the ball and taking a mental picture of where the 11 defenders are.
Then when the ball is snapped, Jones knows where the trouble is and, more importantly, isn't.
"You have to practice doing that on every play," Parcells said. "If you know what you're doing and what you're looking for; he's starting to try and do that and it shows up on his runs. He has a better sense of where the enemy is."
It also helps the Jones is running behind some of the best line play the Cowboys have had in his three years. Kyle Kosier's signing was met with a giant, "Huh?" but he has developed into a Parcells' guy at left guard. Andre Gurode has solidified his spot at center. Marco Rivera is better this year than he was last year. And the tackles, Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo, have done a nice job.
They aren't the second coming of Emmitt Smith's line, but they're improved.
"He's not just running on instincts now," Parcells said. "He's running on intelligence and instincts and patience. You're never gonna be a good runner until you can do all of those. If you're just all instinctive runner, you might be spectacular but you're gonna have a lot of minus plays because your instincts can't tell you everything. And you've gotta have the patience and then you have to have the intelligence of what is exactly supposed to happen here. Once you start putting those three together, then you're down the road pretty well."
As a result, Jones is on a pace for a 1,536-yard season, which would be the fourth-best year in team history and the most gained since Smith had 1,773 yards in 1995.
And that would be better than any committee.
IRVING – Remember when the talk during training camp was a running back by committee?
Turns out, it's not so much a committee.
Through three games, Julius Jones has 60 carries for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Marion Barber has 20 carries for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
What running game coordinator Tony Sparano has done is maximize Jones' effectiveness. Twenty carries seems to be about right for Jones, especially in Bill Parcells' world, where there are only a precious few every-down backs like he had in Curtis Martin in New England and New York.
Physically, Jones is the same player he was a year ago: he's 5-10, 211 pounds. But he looks entirely different.
He is showing more speed to the outside. He is hitting the hole quicker. He is taking what is being given to him.
"Julius is well in advance of where he was a couple of years ago as a runner," Parcells said. "He sees it. He knows. His bad decisions are fewer and fewer. I think he's relaxed to the point now to where you can talk to him about other things other than the play and how to read that play."
There's more to being a running back than just running, especially to Parcells. It's an art, in a way, to the coach. But even Parcells can't describe it exactly. What he sees Jones doing is looking over a defense before he gets the ball and taking a mental picture of where the 11 defenders are.
Then when the ball is snapped, Jones knows where the trouble is and, more importantly, isn't.
"You have to practice doing that on every play," Parcells said. "If you know what you're doing and what you're looking for; he's starting to try and do that and it shows up on his runs. He has a better sense of where the enemy is."
It also helps the Jones is running behind some of the best line play the Cowboys have had in his three years. Kyle Kosier's signing was met with a giant, "Huh?" but he has developed into a Parcells' guy at left guard. Andre Gurode has solidified his spot at center. Marco Rivera is better this year than he was last year. And the tackles, Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo, have done a nice job.
They aren't the second coming of Emmitt Smith's line, but they're improved.
"He's not just running on instincts now," Parcells said. "He's running on intelligence and instincts and patience. You're never gonna be a good runner until you can do all of those. If you're just all instinctive runner, you might be spectacular but you're gonna have a lot of minus plays because your instincts can't tell you everything. And you've gotta have the patience and then you have to have the intelligence of what is exactly supposed to happen here. Once you start putting those three together, then you're down the road pretty well."
As a result, Jones is on a pace for a 1,536-yard season, which would be the fourth-best year in team history and the most gained since Smith had 1,773 yards in 1995.
And that would be better than any committee.
posted by The Gryphon at 10:03 PM
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