The Cowboys last season were among 10 teams that had three backs with 60-plus carries. Look for the time-sharing arrangement with Marion Barber, Tashard Choice and Felix Jones to continue. It worked well enough for the Cowboys to rank seventh in rushing with 131.4 yards per game.
The decision that must be made during camp is how to divide the usual total of about 28 carries per game. More specifically, can the Cowboys continue to give Marion Barber about 15 carries per game?
Barber has had two consecutive mediocre and injury-plagued seasons. A year ago, he ranked 16th in yards per game (62.1) and 14th in per-carry average (4.4) among the 22 backs with 200-plus attempts. He had only 18 yards on 11 carries in the playoffs.
Jones did well when given increased work. In the final six games, including playoffs, Jones ran for 475 yards with a per-carry average of 6.0 yards. Tashard Choice, who did his best work out of the single-wing Razorback formation, is also pushing for more time.
This could be the most fiercely contested area in camp. Barber is not the undisputed No. 1 back. He must earn the spot, or lose it.
"When you have a number of guys who are so capable, you're always going to feel like they can do better if given more chances," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. "You're always going to feel like there's more meat on the bone for them."
The article points out that Barber was among the top-five least affective backs in third and fourth and short, which is where you hope he'd make his fantasy living. Dallas backs look to be nothing more than RB2 or flex spots until things get sorted out a bit more.
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