I agree. Jones was ultimately the better pick for us. He fits the need. Mendenhall didnt.

with the term “late bloomer”. Who cares if he didn’t start as a sophmore, the kid is an absolute beast and will be a perenial all pro with Pittsburgh.

Mendenhall vs. Jones: The final word

Remember, none of this is anything against Felix Jones. I’m guessing he’ll be a good addition to the Cowboys offense. But Rashard Mendenhall will be better. Much better.

And so since some people have filled by email up with such nice things to say about my opinion on all this, I’d like go ahead and dispel some notions that seem to be pretty popular around here.

Jones brings more speed

Really? That’s funny. I’ve got the official combine results. And they happen to say that Mendenhall ran a 4.45 there, while Jones clocked a 4.47.

So how about explosiveness and agility? Both players had 33.5-inch verticals, while Mendenhall ran a better short shuttle (4.18-4.19) and Jones had a better broad jump (10.4-9.9).

Jones is the game-breaker that Mendenhall isn’t

This one cracks me up. Apparently people missed the Rose Bowl. You know, when Mendenhall flat out ran away from USC - probably the fastest defense in the nation - for a 79-yard run and a 55-yard catch.

For your benefit, I happened to go through all the Illinois and Arkansas play-by-plays. I’m going to classify a “big play” as 20 yards or more. Mendenhall had 18 such plays from scrimmage, two of them coming on catches. Jones had 19, two on catches.

Now, Mendenhall had far more carries, but also faced defenses geared to stop him and had to do the between-the-tackles and short-yardage dirty work for the Illini. And you could argue that seven of those “big plays” for Jones came against the likes of Troy, North Texas and Tennessee-Chattanooga. To be fair, two of Mendenhall’s came against Ball State. But he didn’t play in a gimmicky offense that worked to get him in the open field with the defense keying on someone else.

Jones is more versatile

I think there’s a perception out there that Jones is a better receiver than Mendenhall. Based on what, I’ll never know. In his three-year Arkansas career, Jones caught 39 passes for 393 yards. Mendenhall caught 34 passes for 318 yards during his junior year alone. I can tell you categorically, if you’re looking for a back to contribute on third down, Mendenhall’s more ready than Jones, based on the fact that he’s a better receiver and has been used extensively in blitz pickup.

There’s no arguing that Jones isn’t the better return man. He is, without question. Mendenhall didn’t do that as a collegian.

Mendenhall is a one-year wonder

Mendenhall did have only one season as a starter, but I do think it’s important to remember that the guy in front of him wasn’t half-bad. Pierre Thomas may have been limited in his opportunities with the Saints last year. Still, he averaged 4.8 yards per carry and rushed for 100 yards in his only start. So while Mendenhall may not have been splitting time with Darren McFadden, he wasn’t backing up a slouch.

Plus, as a sophomore, Mendenhall didn’t exactly play poorly. He averaged 8.2 yards per carry and had 12 catches, which is just four off of Jones’ career high.

“I really think it was matter of time before he had a year like this. Pierre Thomas was a two-time MVP player here,” Illinois RB coach Reggie Campbell told me in March. “He’s been a good player, since he’s been here. It was a matter of him getting on the field. He’s always been the best talent we had, and then he developed into the best player we had.”

Mendenhall was a malcontent and didn’t work hard

I’m going to turn this over to Campbell again. Take it for what it’s worth …

“He was great, he was a team player, never complained,” Cambell said. “He wanted to be starter, he was motivated to be the starter. But he never complained about not being the starter. ... Really, I’ve told pro scouts this, you try to find a fault, there was not one. He’s been a 3.0 student, on the honor roll every semester, with exception of this one, and he was a 2.9. Off the field, he was great.”

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Again, this is hardly an indictment on Jones, who I think has a chance to add a different element to the Cowboys’ offense.

No, I’m simply responding here as to why I believe that Mendenhall - the best back in this draft - was the right pick for Dallas, no matter the circumstances. Yes, they have Marion Barber on board, but the idea that any running back pair has to be a “thunder-and-lightning” combination is just silly.

Last time I checked, the Vikings didn’t need a workhorse, grind-it-out type last year. They had Chester Taylor to do that stuff - who had just signed a four-year deal with the team and was coming off a 1,200-yard season - already. They took Adrian Peterson anyway. How’d that work out for them?

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/04/mendenhall-vs-jones-the-final-word.html

you cant even bring the Vikings into it. Adrian Peterson might be the best running back ever!!!!

I hate the speed comparisons from the combine 40 yard numbers.

While Mendenhall is a great combination of speed and size/power, he simply doesn’t have the footwork, lateral quickness, and “wiggle” that Felix possesses.

I think Mendenhall is a great back, but I love the dimension that Felix brings to our offense. If we can find a way to get this guy in space, he will make people miss and create big plays.

In my mind, speed is absolutely meaningless if you don’t have some wiggle, know how to set up your blockers, and ultimately make defenders miss. Cowboy fans just lived through the Julius Jones era, and should realize this.

With that said, I feel that Dallas and Pittsburgh both got great backs that will compliment the other back in their respective two-back system. Cowboy fans need to move on and welcome Felix and his talent. Now it’s up to Garrett to find ways to get Jones the ball in space.

Kid had 1 good year at Illinois. SEC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Big 10.

many want to say that Dallas was going to draft Felix Jones no matter what because they weren’t in the market for a lead type franchise back, because a lead type franchise back wouldn’t fit the offense of what dallas was going to do. I’ve said many times, you dont draft a complementory back in the first round when a Lead franchise back is there for the taking because one falls into your lap when you are on the clock.

Many of you listen and buy what Jerry double talk Jones is selling. His reasoning for not taking mendenhall was he was a carry the load lead back, and that pushed him down in Jerry’s mind for not taking him. I’ve said it before, that was thee dumbest statement for reasoning for not taking a consensus lead type back in Mendenhall. If you wanted to take a complementory back, then say so, dont give a lame excuse for not taking a lead back.

Now the Cowboys thought there would be a tough decision to make at that pick, but they figured it would be between Felix Jones and Oregon’s Jonathan Stewart, whose stock had been hard to read because of his toe surgery after the combine.

In fact, multiple sources in the Cowboys’ War Room said the club would’ve drafted Stewart over Felix Jones had he been available, but it became irrelevant once Stewart was drafted 12th overall by the Panthers.

Stewart, a compact back with home-run speed, combined with the ability and history of carrying the load as the No. 1 back, appeared to be the team’s No. 2 overall back on the board behind Arkansas’ Darren McFadden

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news.cfm?id=9C4B518D-FB62-42A5-563C2812E4C39C77

Now we find out that Dallas would of taken my guy Jonathan Stewart if he happened to drop for the taking at 22, HUH!!!, just a second now. Dallas wouldn’t take mendenhall because he’s a carry the load lead type back, but you would Take Stewart over Jones if he was there at 22, there is no doubt Jonathan Stewart is a lead back, not a complementory back. This is the kind of nonsense Jerry double talk Jones says all the time.

But with Stewart gone, it came down to Felix Jones and Mendenhall. The Cowboys might have even had Mendenhall rated higher as an overall back, but a few other factors ultimately pushed the tide to Jones’ favor.

The speculation was that when the Cowboys inquired about Mendenhall’s first two years at Illinois, when he was the backup running back and had just 858 yards in two years, they learned he wasn’t the most dedicated player in the weight room. When he wasn’t the starting back, apparently Mendenhall didn’t get rave reviews about being a team player.

Ok, the problem I have with this quote and Nick Eatman, In the first quote Nick Eatman stated that multiple sources in the war room stated that Stewart would of been the choice over Jones if we was there at 22. So souces told you this, but when you talk about Mendenhall, you use words like,SPECULATION and APPARENTLY, so the reasoning in your article has no bases in fact from souces about mendenhall, it’s just you APPARENTLY SPECULATING a reason for Dallas not taking Mendenhall over Jones. nobody in the organization stated such to you though.

Dont get all bent out of shape here folks, this isn’t about whether Stewart is better than Jones or Mendenall or Jones is better than Stewart or Mendenhall, they’re all very good backs, it’s just to show that Dallas was interested in drafting a carry the load franchise back in the first round if Stewart was there, but Jerry gave a lame excuse for not taking mendenhall over Jones, by saying mendenhall was pushed down in Jerry’s eyes because he’s a lead type carry the load type back. Complete double talk garbage that Jerry is known for and so many buy into,,,

Didn’t realize that the board didn’t include Jerry’s input, though that does make some sense. I’m guessing that the smile on Garrett’s face indicates approval on his part, too, but who knows.

Until we know whether MB3 is going to get re-signed, it’s hard to fairly judge the decisionmaking in my opinion (unless you advocate dumping MB3 for Mendenhall). I would agree that Mendenhall would have given us more flexibility with MB3 (though I think Choice potentially provided some of that), but I don’t think he would upgrade the team in the way that Jones does in tandem with MB3.

I rue the day the Boys traded away the Jackson pick as much as anyone, but I just don’t think this is the same situation. Felix Jones is not Julius Jones, and Mendenhall is not Jackson. Time will tell how it plays out.