I"m not a fan of this interest but I'll wait and see how it gets played out. Barber isn't the worst option out there. Of the few dallas games i followed last year i thought it was their play calling and run blocking that doomed their running game last year. Barber, Jones and Choice all fell off the production map last season. I still think in the right system Barber could be effective. Probably for a good price too. If we do sign him it might be an indication of what our FO/Coaching staff's expectations are for Thomas.
That decline also typically doesn't come at less than 1,000 career carries. Ricky Williams broke that mid-way through his 2002 campaign here. Jamal Lewis hit that after his third year as a feature back.
He would be a short yardage back, which we don't really have. I'm not sure you would want a rookie handling that role. I don't have strong feelings one way or another about Barber, but I think if we do sign him, it might be at the expense of Polite.
he is an excellent blocker, maybe they see a fullback in the making, and an upgrade at that position..2 for 1 kind of thing, play polites role and carry the rock when he needs to.
And I also notice that the following relationship was maintained, from 2009 to 2010: Felix Jones > Tashard Choice >> Marion Barber
Seriously, you've seen enough to know better, unless you're being bombastic and anti-intellectual because you think it's good practice for a career as a talking head. He's a different style back than those players. You've seen this happen before. You've see Brandon Jacobs look awful in 2009 while Ahmad Bradshaw broke out. You've seen great power backs in the prime of their career look hesitant and run with nowhere near their authority if they have no faith in their lines. You've seen an entire season worth of it in 2003. Marion Barber isn't Ahmad Bradshaw or DeAngelo Williams, but he probably isn't a broke-dick dog, not at 1,000 career carries. A team reportedly taking a sniff at him is not worth throwing your hand against your forehead and wailing about how gauche the whole ordeal is. If Barber still has something left in him, it's not an absolute travesty that they sign a guy who is going to get low 4.0 yards per pop and beat up defenses but can't carry a sole workload himself. It's not as if Daniel Thomas is a powerful back, if you get a guy who is going to punish defenses even if he's just acceptably productive in terms of yardage, it's not a horrible thing.
You can't have pro bowlers across the whole line. And yes, that would be an obvious way to improve the line.......any line. The best way to a better pass def is for us to sign two pro bowl safeties too.
