Julius Jones at Career Crossroad: What Does His Future Hold?

Julius Jones will turn 29 on August 14.  In virtually any other walk of life he is a very young man.

In certain sports participant endeavors 29 is an age where one is just beginning to hit stride with plenty of remaining years of achievement left in a professional career.

Jones does not happen to be in one of the aforementioned circumstances.  He is a National Football League running back.  I this week heard  renowned ESPN Radio NFL grid expert John Clayton cite 29 and 30 as a pivotal age when a running back has begun to noticeably age.

There are those repeated hits at the line of scrimmage and the punishment endured, particularly in the legs.  One is being perpetually tackled by some of the biggest, toughest, and most talented athletes in the world.

Think of how so many premier defensive linemen and linebackers, the players who outweigh running backs the most significantly and form the first and most repeated elements of resistance, have been developed in this streamlined age of football.

So many of these individuals who comprise the most punishing tacklers on the planet were once quarterbacks, receivers, and yes, running backs, while in high school.  They were the quickest and best athletes around.

What happened next?  People like Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden when that school was in the midst of a dynasty with premier recruiting coupled with coaching astuteness went to work.  Bowden would seek out the best athletes from every town big and small in the Florida-Georgia area.

After selectively recruiting premier athletes they would be put through significant weight training, emerging as big, sometimes huge, yet quick.  From there those chosen to be defensive players would be turned over to Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews, who on game day had an expression of a general whose troops were the last wall of resistance to save an embattled nation.

Julius Jones according to certain news accounts was slated to be traded earlier this season.  That never happened and he remains a Seahawk.

He is an explosive runner.  He set records at Notre Dame, a school with a long and proud gridiron history.  Jones caught the eyes of NFL scouts when in 2003 he set a single game school record for rushing yards with 262 against Pittsburgh.

In that same explosive senior season of 2003 Jones rushed for 200 plus yards in three games, another school record.  He holds multiple career records for kick and punt returns.

Jones put in some productive time in his Dallas Cowboys tenure from 2004 to 2007.  He became a Seahawk in 2008, agreeing to a four year deal.

While competing for the starting job throughout training camp Coach Mike Holmgren decided to give the start to Maurice Morris against Buffalo in week one but stated that both backs would be used frequently.

After Morris was sidelined Jones received his chance to start.  Jones received his first start against San Francisco in week two and responded with a 127 yard performance and a touchdown in an overtime loss.  The next week he became the first Seattle running back since the championship season of 2005 to achieve back to back 100 plus efforts with a 140 yard day and a touchdown in a win against St. Louis.

At the end of the 2008 regular season Jones’ efforts revealed 698 rushing yards and two touchdowns with a 4.4 yard average per carry.

Last season Jones became the starter in first year Coach Jim Mora’s offense with Justin Forsett as his backup.  The season started with a bang as he rushed for 117 yards on 19 carries highlighted by a 62-yard touchdown burst in a 28-0 shutout of the St. Louis Rams.

Jones ended the season with 663 yards on 177 carries for a 3.7 average and two rushing touchdowns.  As a receiver he contributed 232 yards on 35 receptions for a 6.6 average and two touchdowns.

Some critics examined Jones’ statistics as well as those of backup Justin Forsett and concluded that the former Cal Bear outperformed Jones.  Forsett ran for 619 yards on 114 attempts for a 5.4 average and four touchdowns.  As a receiver Forsett had 41 receptions for 350 yards and an 8.5 average with one touchdown.

So where does it get anyone to compare and pick favorites?  For years the Los Angeles Rams were plagued by media and fan debates over who should be the number one quarterback.  What resulted was that the number two quarterback was eternally most popular in town unless he was elevated, at which time the boo level matched those of the player he replaced.

We know that both Jones and Forsett have quick striking power and the versatility to catch the ball as well as pack the mail on rushing attempts.

We also know the attrition rate of running backs in the NFL.  So how do we enable Jones to continue to play productively while giving Forsett and other prospects in Seahawks uniform a chance to contribute?

There is that committee idea of Pete Carroll that he used at USC.  This might be the very time and place to put it to productive use.

It would be nice to have fresher legs going into the critical final quarter of games where that extra burst of effort on one, two, or several key runs can make the difference between winning and losing.