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Taylor: Cowboys better 'with Barber setting the tone'
08:09 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor answered your questions in his weekly e-mail newsletter - Inside the Dallas Cowboys. Here are some highlights.
Q: I recently read your piece on Marion Barber and why he should be the starting running back. You make some good points, but I also recall you wrote a previous column proclaiming that Felix Jones should be the starter. I'm writing to ask, why the sudden change of heart? Barber has slimmed down, yes, but he still doesn't offer the scoring opportunities Jones gives the offense. And at the end of the day, that's what wins ballgames, putting points on the board.
Martin Long
TAYLOR: Good question. I wrote the piece about Jones you're referring to the week after the Cowboys' season ended, when Barber gained 14 yards on eight carries in the blowout loss to Minnesota. As I talked to coaches and players during the off-season and last week at training camp, it became clear that Barber, with his bruising style, gives his teammates and coaches a feeling of confidence that Jones and Tashard Choice don't. This game is so much about emotion – not just stats – that the more I talk to the players, the more I think they'll be better with Barber setting the tone and Jones putting them away once the opponent has been beaten up physically.
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Q: The Cowboys have one of the biggest offensive lines in the NFL. Why are the coaches so hesitant on imposing their will on the defense and running the ball straight on with Barber and Choice when they get inside the 20-yard line instead of the delay draws and play-action passes?
A.L. Craig, Washington, D.C.
TAYLOR: I can't really argue that point. But you can't base what the Cowboys will do in the red zone this season on what you see in the preseason. They aren't going to show teams their best stuff or their new stuff in the preseason. That wouldn't make sense. They've talked about running the ball more this season, as well as getting Jason Witten more involved. We'll see in the first month of the season if they're really committed to being a better team inside the 20.
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Q: Is the offensive line too old? Is this the red-zone problem? Are the backups ready?
George Bohler, Maryland
TAYLOR: I don't think the line is too old. While Doug Free is the only member of the line not in his 30s, I think most coaches would agree that offensive linemen can easily play deep into their 30s because so much of the position is about technique and intelligence, which is enhanced when players get older. I don't think their age is a problem inside the 20. I would be concerned about every backup not named Alex Barron because most of them have accomplished nothing in the NFL. Until you do it, you haven't done it.
Click here to read the entire newsletter
• • •
08:09 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor answered your questions in his weekly e-mail newsletter - Inside the Dallas Cowboys. Here are some highlights.
Q: I recently read your piece on Marion Barber and why he should be the starting running back. You make some good points, but I also recall you wrote a previous column proclaiming that Felix Jones should be the starter. I'm writing to ask, why the sudden change of heart? Barber has slimmed down, yes, but he still doesn't offer the scoring opportunities Jones gives the offense. And at the end of the day, that's what wins ballgames, putting points on the board.
Martin Long
TAYLOR: Good question. I wrote the piece about Jones you're referring to the week after the Cowboys' season ended, when Barber gained 14 yards on eight carries in the blowout loss to Minnesota. As I talked to coaches and players during the off-season and last week at training camp, it became clear that Barber, with his bruising style, gives his teammates and coaches a feeling of confidence that Jones and Tashard Choice don't. This game is so much about emotion – not just stats – that the more I talk to the players, the more I think they'll be better with Barber setting the tone and Jones putting them away once the opponent has been beaten up physically.
• • •
Q: The Cowboys have one of the biggest offensive lines in the NFL. Why are the coaches so hesitant on imposing their will on the defense and running the ball straight on with Barber and Choice when they get inside the 20-yard line instead of the delay draws and play-action passes?
A.L. Craig, Washington, D.C.
TAYLOR: I can't really argue that point. But you can't base what the Cowboys will do in the red zone this season on what you see in the preseason. They aren't going to show teams their best stuff or their new stuff in the preseason. That wouldn't make sense. They've talked about running the ball more this season, as well as getting Jason Witten more involved. We'll see in the first month of the season if they're really committed to being a better team inside the 20.
• • •
Q: Is the offensive line too old? Is this the red-zone problem? Are the backups ready?
George Bohler, Maryland
TAYLOR: I don't think the line is too old. While Doug Free is the only member of the line not in his 30s, I think most coaches would agree that offensive linemen can easily play deep into their 30s because so much of the position is about technique and intelligence, which is enhanced when players get older. I don't think their age is a problem inside the 20. I would be concerned about every backup not named Alex Barron because most of them have accomplished nothing in the NFL. Until you do it, you haven't done it.
Click here to read the entire newsletter
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