Dallas Cowboys need Felix Jones as their featured back

Felix Jones can offer Dallas explosive plays out of the backfield

Last season, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that Dallas needed to get their second year running back, Felix Jones, in the game more.

The Cowboys owner’s reasoning behind this was based on Felix Jones’ “special qualities.”

Going into the new season Jerry Jones’ idea still holds strong. Felix Jones needs to be the starting running back for the Dallas Cowboys.

Felix Jones is an explosive running back. He forces the opposition to focus on the entire width of the field in relation to the running game, instead of being allowed focus solely inside the numbers.

Felix “the cat” has blistering pace and the ability to turn the corner and make defensemen miss tackles.

Power running is a great assist to a team, but the current trend in running back success in the NFL is speed and elusiveness. And Jones has a whole bag of that.

Marion Barber is a solid running back and deserves credit for the manner in which he runs the ball. He is a power back who is not afraid to go up the gut for the sake of a yard or two.

Barber can and will be an important part of the Dallas offensive, but he can have a much greater impact if he is put to use behind Jones.

If you look at last year alone, Jones averaged 1.5 yards extra per carry compared to Barber. With 98 less touches, Jones managed to equal Barber with five rushes of 20 plus yards. He also rushed forty plus yards four times more than Barber’s zero.

Felix Jones only managed to play six games in his rookie year before picking up a serious injury, but he averaged just under nine yards a carry during that time. Marion Barber is a hard-nosed, in your face running back. He tends to run between the numbers, and therefore is prone to more hits from linemen and linebackers.

This has taken a toll on Barber. Since the departure of Julius Jones in 2008, Barber has failed to complete a 16 game season. For the majority of last year, Barber played hurt.

Comparing the two seasons where Barber played backup to his two most recent seasons, it is clear to see which role harvests the best results.

With over 100 carries less playing behind Jones he scored 24 touchdowns, to his 14 as a starter. That is 10 touchdowns more playing as a backup.

He averaged 4.8 yards a carry as a backup in 2006 and 2007. Last year Barber averaged 4.4 a carry as starter, and 3.7 the year before. Barber’s average yards per carry as a starting back is just over four yards.

Compare that to his consistent 4.8 and you have nearly a whole yard in the difference. It might not sound like much but the NFL is a game of yards and inches.

Barber’s career high in single season total yards is 975 yards, which he rushed for in 2007 as a backup.

His longest career rush is 54 yards, which again occurred in the 2007 season.

When Barber was used as the Cowboys’ closing running back in 2006 and 2007, he didn’t miss a single regular season game.

Dallas has an exciting new weapon to aim for on offense in the shape Dez Bryant. Add him to the other offensive playmakers that Tony Romo can target and that makes for a lethal passing game.

Mix in an explosive backfield and Dallas’ offense looks locked, cocked and ready to fire.

The best role Marion Barber’s can play is “crime scene investigator.” When a team’s defense has been murdered, it is his time to shine.