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SAN ANTONIO – Having failed miserably to convince the last Cowboys coaching staff that they were starting the wrong running back, I arrived at the Alamodome on Tuesday determined not to let it happen again.

New offensive coordinator Jason Garrett had lots of good things to say about Marion Barber, the Cowboys backup who led the NFC in rushing touchdowns last year, scoring once every 9.7 carries.

"You want to put your best players on the field as often as possible," Garrett said. "When I looked at Marion Barber last year, I saw a guy who not only was very good running the ball, very good catching the ball and very good at scoring touchdowns but a guy who energized the team when he got onto the field."

So, I said, you will listen to me now when I say he's your best back and he should start over Julius Jones?

"No,"said Garrett.

It's OK, though. I really think these guys get it and will eventually come closer to balancing the load that Jones and Barber carry in the Dallas backfield.

A year ago, Jones had right at twice as many carries as Barber. Their production suggests it should be a lot closer to 50-50.

"What they did last year was pretty successful," coach Wade Phillips said. "One guy led the NFC in [rushing] touchdowns, and the other guy ran for 1,000 yards. They complement each other pretty well.

"I think we'll look at it from that standpoint to start with, and see what they look like in this offense."

See? Phillips said "to start with."

So it's status quo for now, but if both backs perform the way they did a year ago, I think things will tilt in Barber's favor.

It's not that Jones is deficient. He's a solid back, but he's a four yards per carry guy. He's never deviated much from that, even when he burst on the scene in the final half of his rookie season with those games of 150 yards rushing against Chicago, 198 against Seattle and 149 against the Giants.

Jones averaged 4.2 as a rookie, 3.9 in 2005 and 4.1 last year although he tailed off. After a hot start in which he had three straight 100-yard games, Jones averaged 3.7 yards per carry the last 11 weeks.

Barber, who is more explosive, averaged 4.8 per carry last season. While he gets the benefit of some third-and-long draw plays to pad his numbers, he's also the third-and-1 back, too.

Around the NFL last year, there was only one other back combination in which the backup (with more than 100 carries) had a significantly higher average than the starter. In Jacksonville, rookie Maurice Jones-Drew averaged 5.7 yards per carry to Fred Taylor's 5.0.

In their case, Taylor is nine years older. It's easy to see how they are going to make the transition at featured back in that system.

In Dallas, Jones has three years under his belt and Barber has two.

There's not a logical time to point to and say that's when Barber will become the starter.

But it could and should happen.

VERNON BRYANT / DMN

Marion Barber averaged 4.8 yards per carry last season.

I understand that the system works pretty well the way it is. The Cowboys scored 425 points last year, their most since 1995. They were No. 1 in touchdown production inside the 20 in the NFC.

Barber's not going to rock the boat. He doesn't regularly express his views on the situation.

After Tuesday's workout, he signed autographs for about 20 minutes, then bolted through the crowd into the locker room.

If Barber's not fine with being the backup, he's not saying otherwise.

We already know Jones has expressed unhappiness at how he disappeared from the second halves of a few games last year. If he was sent to the bench in a role reversal and asked to become the change-up back that Barber has been, Jones would be likely to voice his displeasure.

Still, you don't make personnel decisions based on how players react. You make them for the good of the team.

What Phillips and Garrett and the offensive staff are doing makes perfect sense. Start out the way things were a year ago.

And then if Barber continues to outperform Jones as he did in 2006, there comes a time to make the change and make a good offense even better.

How starter Julius Jones did compared to backup Marion Barber last season:

267 carries; 1,084 yards; 4 TDs; 5 20-yard runs

135 carries; 654 yards; 14 TDs; 4 20-yard runs