Before the 2008 draft, most people thought the Cowboys would draft a running back with their first draft choice, which came at number 22, a pick they received in a trade from Cleveland the previous draft. They needed one after they let Julius Jones go to free agency.
The only running back on the roster was Marion Barber and he was slated to be the starter for the 2008 season and needed a primary backup.
Darren McFadden was considered the best back in the draft and he was taken with the number four overall pick by the Oakland Raiders. The second running back taken was Jonathan Stewart, who went to the Carolina Panthers with the 13th pick.
Prior to the draft, two players came up when discussing the Cowboys’ selection. One was Rashard Mendenhall, who was considered more of the Marion Barber type and was the main guy at his college. Well, they already have that.
The other name was Felix Jones, a speedster who shared the backfield at Arkansas with Darren McFadden. Perfect. Just the change up to Marion Barber that the Cowboys needed, who will also be willing to share the load.
The Cowboys got him. Mendenhall went off the board with the following pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Taken two picks after the Cowboys selection to the Tennessee Titans was Chris Johnson.
Having drafted Chris Johnson in a couple of my fantasy football leagues and being fortunate enough to have the NFL Sunday Ticket package, I have been able to see many of his games.
This guy is amazing.
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Sure, he does get tackled behind the line of scrimmage a lot, but for every loss, there is the potential for huge plays.
If he breaks passed the line, he could be gone. And if he passes you, jolly good luck in catching him.
After the first month of the season, I was curious as to where Johnson was taken in the draft. That is when I went back and looked at the first round of the draft from 2008. Of course, I chuckled when I saw where he had been selected.
Now, before I really start going on, I have to say that this is a knowingly hasted response. Only a season and a half has passed since the 2008 draft and up to this point, Chris Johnson has been the most successful running back out of the first round class.
But I can still wonder.
This is very unfair to Felix Jones because when he has been on the field and healthy, he is phenomenal. In six games in 2008, he had an 8.9 yard per carry average.
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He started off 2009 very well too. Through the first three games, he was averaging 10 yards a carry, which included 96 yards against the New York Giants and 94 yards against the Carolina Panthers before he was injured in the Carolina game.
Since he has been back from injury, he has not been well. His kickoffs are very dull and he seems to have no burst. He has also been playing with an enormous brace on his knee. That could also be a factor.
Up to this point though, Felix has not contributed to the games as much as he was expected to. This could be on Jason Garrett, but Felix is also not used often in the passing game. This is unusual because Felix has great hands and should be primed for screens and some underneath passes.
Chris Johnson has just surpassed 1,000 yards for his second consecutive season in the league and he is actually featured very well in the Titans’ passing game.
This is probably due to the poor receiving corps in Tennessee, but Johnson is their leading receiver with 30 catches.
When Chris Johnson came to the Titans in the 2008 draft, they had LenDale White who was coming off of a 1,000 yard performance. White, being the Titans short yardage and goal line back while Johnson would be the back in between the 20′s.
During the 2008 season, both backs shared carries. White had 200 carries and Johnson had 251.
In 2009 however, White is almost out of the picture. They are not using White as a goal line specialist anymore. He had 15 rushing touchdowns in 2008 and just one this year. He also has only 59 carries as opposed to Johnson’s 170.
Now, Chris Johnson is the number one option in any situation and he has become a pretty good goal line back, busting in some short touchdowns.
Before my fantasy football drafts, I was thinking of some backs I would love to have and Chris Johnson was one of them. My only issue was that he was maybe a little inconsistent. I checked his game logs from his rookie year and he destroyed poor teams and had okay games against good teams.
He started this season off against the Pittsburgh Steelers and he struggled. Not surprising since they are the defending Super Bowl champions and were the number one defense last season.
Since then, he has been rock solid. He has gone under 83 rushing yards in a game just once and currently has 8 rushing touchdowns with 6.4 yards per carry.
Obviously the two backs were drafted to play different roles.
Chris Johnson is a featured back and Felix Jones is a speedy change up to the tough running Marion Barber.
But wondering what could have been is always interesting and sometimes dangerous.
Of course, this would be a totally irrelevant discussion if Felix Jones were healthy for his first two seasons in the league.
Felix has proven that he can come in and take one carry to the house.
Earlier this season, Chris Johnson said that he need a certain amount of carries for him to get in a groove.
That could be a problem because in the Cowboys’ offense, Barber is getting the bulk and there is really no balance of carries.
I happen to disbelieve Johnson though because he can also bust one with a single rush attempt.
Both backs have very similar styles though and there is no telling how each of their careers will end up. Maybe we will see a fully healthy Felix Jones for a season, with him living out his potential and then this is all futile.
For the time being though, how great would it be to see Chris Johnson running in a Cowboys uniform?
