New-Look Jaguars RB room has promise
Now that the Jaguars have a different look to their running back group, will the team excel with the running game once again?
One of the biggest question mark surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars offense is the running back position.
Leonard Fournette is the subject of speculation and fan criticism after an injury-riddled 2018 campaign, not to mention his one-game suspension after fighting a Buffalo Bills defender in Week 12. Fournette later met with the team’s vice president of football operations, Tom Coughlin, and cleared the air. Fournette was off to Wyoming once the season ended to train with his former running backs coach.
But once Fournette returned to Jacksonville, he was arrested for driving with a suspended license from an unpaid traffic ticket, causing a local media circus. The assessment of Fournette from local media and fans was truly unfair to the former LSU star – can’t say that I didn’t forget to pay my traffic ticket.
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Let’s not forget that during his rookie season Fournette rushed for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns. Fournette is a premier running back in the NFL but was hindered due to his own injuries, offensive line injuries, and an easily predictable offensive playbook.
Having a new quarterback in Nick Foles will create a much more respectable offense for the Jaguars, helping Fournette and allowing a less stacked box every time he’s in the backfield. Judging off his Instagram post, Fournette’s physique certainly looks ready for the wear and tear of another NFL season.
Outside of Fournette, the Jaguars completely retooled their backfield. T.J. Yeldon left for the Bills, but the offseason signings of Alfred Blue and Benny Cunningham provide some versatility at the third-down back spot and in the receiving game – even special teams.
In the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft, the Jaguars took Temple running back Ryquell Armstead with the 140th pick. At 5’11 and 215 pounds, Armstead is a big back who still ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
Armstead ran for 2,812 yards and 34 touchdowns in four seasons with Temple, with 1,098 yards and 13 touchdowns in 10 games his senior season.
Blue will more than likely be the backup running back at the start of the season, but Armstead could fill that role once the season ends. Armstead’s game fits the Jaguars’ mentality much more than any backup running back the Jaguars have had in recent years.
Next. The Jaguars add post-draft linebacker depth. dark
Compared to last seasons running back room — Fournette, Yeldon, Carlos Hyde, and Corey Grant – this year fits more into the objective of what the Jaguars want to do when Foles hands the ball off for the first time in 2019.