I wondered what the Jacksonville Jaguars were doing giving big money to Chris Ivory to play running back for the team when they already had the talented T.J. Yeldon. Then I wondered what the players were doing when the players voted him into the Top-100 NFL football players.
Ivory is coming off of his first 1,000-yard season in his six years in the NFL and he’s in the top 100. Running backs are usually considered great when they rush for over 1,300 yards. But I am relieved to see that the Jaguars got it right in terms of the role Ivory will be playing.
Yeldon, who has star potential, is going to go be the Jaguars’ featured back in 2016. The 6’2″, 220 pounder fits the Jaguars’ zone scheme perfectly as he is patient and anticipates creases that are developing. He also has the ability to make tacklers miss in the secondary and in close quarters.
The the passing game, Yeldon is a dependable pass protector that understands his blitz-pickups. He can catch the ball well out of the backfield and is great in space after the catch too. So Ivory will be the bull in 3rd-and-short and spell Yeldon on occasion.
Yeldon showed he has the talent, in 2015, running for 740 yards in 12 games behind a suspect offensive line in 2015 as a rookie. The Jaguars have upgraded the offensive line this offseason so we should see more of Yeldon’s talent on 2016.
So look for the Jaguars to have a running game to go along with quarterback Blake Bortles and the passing game. And also, look for Yeldon to become the star his talent says he will be in 2016.
The Jags are on their way!