But like Felix, he sure is a handful in space. I’ll have a better grasp on where they stand after a full healthy season out of em.

you can almost hear him saying Fee…Fi…Fo…Fum as he drags linebackers into the second level

Like knees, I have this idea now that Choice needs to be the every-down guy, with Barber and Felix as situational backs. I know that’s crazy but Coice really impressed me against some of the best defenses in football. I know Felix can play standard RB plays, but I’d like to see him on the field as a receiver even more. He could change the way defenses line up, he has that much ability.

..nowadays in the NFL. They take such a pounding that to get through the season you need to have some extra horses back there. I’m comfortable going into battle with our three, and like Carl, I hope Garrett uses them.

Running backs have to be complemented by their O-Line’s in order to showcase themselves.

The Giants still have the best trio, not because of how the talent of their groups stacks up against ours (because I think our 3 are better by a smidge), but because they have a better O-Line, especially on the interior. Said differently, our trio behind their line would make this an easy call.

On talent alone, you’d have to go with Tennessee’s group over Dallas’ on the strength of last year’s performance by Chris Johnson. I think Dallas’ group CAN be better, but only if (as thejanusman pointed out) the offensive philosophy were to change a bit. I tend to agree with Terry in that I don’t know if Redball will do that. Otherwise, Johnson, White and Ringer will carry more of the load for their team (have you seen the WR corps for Tenn?) and get to exploit their talents moreso than our group.

Last year, everyone proclaimed the Giants run game a success because of their 3-headed Earth/Wind/Fire attack. But if you watched their games, only 2 backs were able to get significant carries in a game.

Going 3 deep at RB is a cool idea, and in the case of injuries to one of your top 2, it’s a great luxury to be able to have (like the Giants did when Jacobs went down briefly). But within a given game, your top 2 RBs are going to be the difference makers— they’re just aren’t enough carries to get 3 guys significantly involved in a single game plan

Fred Taylor dropped off quite a bit last year— I wouldn’t put him in MB3’s class at this point. I know that Jacksonville’s OL suffered, but note how Taylor’s YPC stats dropped much more than MJD’s did, running behind the same blockers.

Overall, I think the evaluations give a bit too much credit to veteran backs. We’ve seen that the decline for a RB can happen EXTREMELY quickly— one year the guy is very good, the next year he’s slipped a bit, and then the year after that he’s totally done. Despite his dramatically improved touchdown rate last year, which was a bit of a normalization after 2007’s fluke-ish TD rate for him, Thomas Jones slipped a bit, and Washington’s got to start stealing more and more of his job this year, right? The guy’s too explosive to keep on the bench and Jones can’t break long runs much anymore.

Lastly, I’d give the Titans and the Panthers the edge over us, just based on the strength of their top two. We all love Felix (I think he’s one of the top 3 weapons in our division), but it’s 95% potential, 5% production right now, so I think we have to wait until he proves himself to put ourselves up with those formidable backfields that got it done at a very high level last year.

Also, I have no idea who the third RB in Minnesota is these days, but I’d put Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor, and a tree stump as one of the top 5 three-man backfields in the league, just because of the strength of those top two guys. All Day is obviously fantastic, and Taylor has been a 1300 yard rusher in the league very recently.

Michael Bennett, Darren Sproles, and Tomlinson in San Diego might also try to include themselves in the conversation as well— I think they’re more talented than New England, for instance.

We do have the best three RBs in the League and this should make up for any deficiencies in the QB/WR play. As has been said before, the key for our “O” is the OL…can they road grade this year and beat up a DL? …I say unequivocally, YES. Ha!

This statement scares me…..

" I know that given the weapons the Cowboys have on the perimeter, and the tendencies of the offensive coordinator, the Cowboys will probably throw the football often and deep."

I know I have been critical of Garrett (why shouldn’t I? It’s my right to voice my displeasure if I view something is wrong if I’m not correct), in fact Carl, this is the second time I am gonna invite you to go and read my old post “who would you blame if Tashard is not used correctly?” and see how much anger that post brought out in the highly respected Rafael Vela. He, by some quirk of fate, thought I was painting a “bullseye” on Garrett’s head (ridiculous). If anything, Garrett is bringing this “attention” to himself by making blunderous calls and having no imagination on offense and failing to utilize his weaponry- he doesn’t need me to do that.

I do admit one thing though- I shouldn’t have named the post “who would you blame if Tashard Choice isn’t used correctly”, but rather it should have been named “What if the Cowboys don’t use the running game effectively from a philosiphical standpoint?”

I make no apologies regarding my belief that Tashard should be our every down back. It’s what I truly believe and I will stick by that.

The Facts so far as I see them (maybe not like others see them though)

1. Our offensive line is built to run the ball smashmouth, yet we barely even scratch the surface of playing football that way.

2. Our running backs seem to be nothing less than awesome catching slants and screens out of the backfield, yet we shy away from it to go to the “bomb” right when it seems to be clicking.

3. Our offensive line looks bad in pass blocking because they seem to have to pass block alot, and every defense we play knows we have to pass block alot.

4. We don’t even offset the defenses with our pass heavy offense with an effective 3-step drop and slant pass.

sorry to all for hashing subjects that hurt, that’s not my intention. Sorry to all if this even sounds like a put down of Garrett, and that is not my intention. I have no intentions of putting down or demeaning anyone- just the facts.

If anyone here is a fan of Star Trek the Original Series, I want to quote Victor Tayback, the actor that plays Jo Jo Krako, boss of the whole southside territory in the episode “a piece of the action”…..

“What am I, not gonna believe my eyes????”

one will surely go down by early in the season – just the way the League works, sir. I love saving the barbarian until late in the game, omg, is he good late down the stretch, which of course, takes the ball out of Romo’s hands late in the game.

on a friggin’ roll tonight – excellent analysis. What you drinking tonight??