Julius Jones
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| Julius Jones | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | August 14, 1981 |
| Place of birth | Big Stone Gap, Virginia |
| Position(s) | Running back |
| College | Notre Dame |
| NFL Draft | 2004 / Round 2/ Pick 43 |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 2004-present | Dallas Cowboys |
Julius André Maurice Jones (born August 14, 1981 in Big Stone Gap, Virginia) is an American football running back who is currently the starting halfback for the Dallas Cowboys. He is the younger brother of Chicago Bears running back Thomas Jones. Jones attended the University of Notre Dame.
[edit] Professional career
Jones was drafted in the second round of the 2004 NFL draft, after the Cowboys traded their first round pick to the Buffalo Bills (who used it to select J.P. Losman). The Cowboys hoped Jones would be the fix for a running back position that was disappointing with former starter Troy Hambrick. Instead, Jones was injured early in the season and the Cowboys were forced to depend on veteran free agent acquisition Eddie George for much of the season.
Midway through the season, Jones was once again healthy enough to play. He rushed for more than 800 yards and had three straight games of thirty or more carries.
In 2005 Julius Jones had a mediocre early performance, averaging less than 4 yards a carry through the first four games of the season. Against the Philadelphia Eagles in week 5, it appeared that Jones had finally gotten on track after rushing for 72 yards in just the first half, however he suffered a high ankle sprain and was out for the next 3 games.
In those games the rookie Marion Barber III turned in strong performances and created a controversy. Jones, was now being perceived as injury prone and unable to carry the burden of starting for an entire season. This was made worse by his weak return in the rematch against none other than the Eagles, where he ran for just 16 yards at 2 yards a carry. Meanwhile Marion Barber gained 26 yards on a draw in a crucial drive that would eventually set up the Cowboys to win by a point. The next week against the Detroit Lions Jones had a 92 yard game, but he also was stopped 3 times in a row 1 yard from the goal line.
Clinging to the Cowboys playoff lives, against the Carolina Panthers, Julius Jones finally demonstrated the playmaking ability that he had shown in 2004. Rushing for two touchdowns and 194 yards, Jones gave the 2005 Cowboys one last breath of optimism. The next week, however the Cowboys were forced to play just a few hours after finding out they had been eliminated from playoff contention. The entire team played uninspired, and as if to signify the entire season, Jones came just 7 yards short of his first 1,000 yard season.
Setting a goal of 1700 yards rushing in 2005 soon turned out to be too optimistic. After an injury plagued season left him with 993 yards rushing, well short of his goal, Julius Jones has now set his target to merely play 16 full games. Currently for the 2006 season, he has 494 yards on 108 carries and 2 touchdowns.
[edit] Trivia
Jones' late uncle, Edd Clark, played college football at Purdue University. [1]
