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How heavy a load can Felix Jones carry?
July, 26, 2010
By Tim MacMahon
SAN ANTONIO – All signs indicate that the suddenly slim and trim Marion Barber will hold onto his starting job.
That, however, doesn’t mean that he’ll continue to be the lead horse in the Cowboys’ running back committee.
Even after dropping 10 pounds, Barber isn’t nearly as dynamic as Felix Jones, who has a robust career average of 6.5 yards per carry. The only question about Jones, who is actually heavier than the back formerly known as The Barbarian after bulking up to 220, is how heavy of a workload he can handle.
The Cowboys want to maximize the impact of Jones, which means finding the fine line of feeding him the ball while keeping him fresh and healthy. He missed 12 games in his first two seasons with hamstring, toe and knee injuries despite averaging less than eight carries per game.
But Jones, who had no problem staying healthy while splitting time at Arkansas with Darren McFadden, brushes off concerns about his durability.
“I’m not glass,” Jones said.
He proved down the stretch last season that he can be productive with an increased workload. At the beginning of December, he had a career-high of 10 carries in a game. He had at least that many in the last six games of the season, including the playoffs.
Project Jones’ numbers from those six games -- 475 yards on 79 carries, highlighted by his 16-carry, 148-yard, one-TD performance in the playoff win -- and you’re probably looking at a Pro Bowler. It’d put him close to 1,300 yards for the season.
“He’s a guy we feel like we can count on,” Wade Phillips said. “I still don’t know if he’s a 30-carry-per-game guy, but he is a guy who at any time can go the distance. We have confidence in him. We’re going to get him the football.”
July, 26, 2010
By Tim MacMahon
SAN ANTONIO – All signs indicate that the suddenly slim and trim Marion Barber will hold onto his starting job.
That, however, doesn’t mean that he’ll continue to be the lead horse in the Cowboys’ running back committee.
Even after dropping 10 pounds, Barber isn’t nearly as dynamic as Felix Jones, who has a robust career average of 6.5 yards per carry. The only question about Jones, who is actually heavier than the back formerly known as The Barbarian after bulking up to 220, is how heavy of a workload he can handle.
The Cowboys want to maximize the impact of Jones, which means finding the fine line of feeding him the ball while keeping him fresh and healthy. He missed 12 games in his first two seasons with hamstring, toe and knee injuries despite averaging less than eight carries per game.
But Jones, who had no problem staying healthy while splitting time at Arkansas with Darren McFadden, brushes off concerns about his durability.
“I’m not glass,” Jones said.
He proved down the stretch last season that he can be productive with an increased workload. At the beginning of December, he had a career-high of 10 carries in a game. He had at least that many in the last six games of the season, including the playoffs.
Project Jones’ numbers from those six games -- 475 yards on 79 carries, highlighted by his 16-carry, 148-yard, one-TD performance in the playoff win -- and you’re probably looking at a Pro Bowler. It’d put him close to 1,300 yards for the season.
“He’s a guy we feel like we can count on,” Wade Phillips said. “I still don’t know if he’s a 30-carry-per-game guy, but he is a guy who at any time can go the distance. We have confidence in him. We’re going to get him the football.”