Marion Barber’s Asterick

Marion Barber no longer will split carries with Julius Jones. That’s good news, but there’s a caveat.

The last two seasons, Marion Barber has had very big seasons - especially when you consider that he wasn’t even the starter. Last year he totaled 1200+ yards and 12 TDs. In 2006, he compiled 16 TDs and 850+ yards. Balancing the yards and the TDs out, those seasons were roughly equal fantasy-wise. However, in 2006 he put those numbs up with 69 less carries!

Now Julius Jones has left for Seattle and Barber finds himself in the starter’s spot. Barber is durable, but I’m not sure I like the idea of him tacking on another 5 or 6 carries a game. Barber absorbs so many blows because of his running style that the extra carries increase his chances of getting injured during the season. I believe the Cowboys need another RB to absorb some of the yards before getting to the red zone to compliment Barber. Remember, Barber is more power than he is speed and he meets people head on so we know right away he’ll have big collisions and we have never seen him shoulder a bigger load than last season at 204 carries. My hope is that the Cowboys find another viable running back to stick in for the in between yards and Barber maxes out at 225 carries.

Whether they add another back or not, it’s unlikely the Cowboys won’t run him until he falls down. Currently, only unheralded Alonzo Coleman is backing him up, but my money is on the Cowboys adding another speedier RB to spell Barber. Whoever is the backup, I’d definitely hand cuff Barber as another season of 200+ carries will put him to the test and if the Cowboys use him as a complete feature RB, he’s going to get battered.

That said, the stats don’t lie. Barber is a TD machine capable of getting nice yardage. The days of drafting or hoping to draft him in the third round under the guise of he’s still a backup are gone. He’s a mid to late first rounder or maybe an early second rounder if he slips.

My Barber prediction is 13 TDs and 1,200 total yards.