If it wasn’t clear before, it’s becoming obvious the Jacksonville Jaguars want to run the ball well when looking at how they treated the running backs group this offseason. Despite already have a power-back who could handle a big load in James Robinson, the Jags signed Urban Meyer’s former running back from Ohio State, Carlos Hyde, in free agency. Afterward, they also spent a first-round pick on the explosive Travis Etienne, who they took 25th overall.
With the team taking the field for training camp Wednesday, the media and fans have gotten a chance to observe the players within the group. In fact, Etienne was one of the stars of Day 2’s session, showcasing the explosion fans witnessed at Clemson, and now many are warming up to his selection as he could gel well with Robinson.
After practice, this resulted in the media asking offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell about having depth at the running back position, which is something he felt is a necessity for today’s game.
“That’s what we need, you know I feel like this game is built that way,” Bevell said. “I know Coach Meyer believes that — that you run the ball first and that we want to able to kind of exert our will on the opponent. It helps us do other things in the pass game and get big plays in the pass game — those kinds of things are what we’re looking to do. To have a number of backs back there — I think there are a lot of guys that are looking really good and it’s just better for us.”
It certainly makes sense that Meyer would want depth at running back when looking at some of his collegiate teams of the past. While they were more of a speed duo, he had Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey during his time at Florida and certainly worked out for the better. Now, he has more of a mixed group that offers speed and power when it comes to Robinson, Etienne, and Hyde. Additionally, with the NFL moving to 17 games now, it isn’t exactly a bad thing to have three guys with starter potential in one group.
While it’s only been two days, the media has taken note of a trend where the running backs have been utilized as pass-catchers frequently since camp has started. When asked about it, Bevell said the reasoning behind that was to get the running backs more comfortable with contributing in the passing game, just as they do for the run game.
“I think — interesting observation you have, that’s really good and I think the thing that’s important for us is that all of those guys can run the ball,” Bevell said. “There are some things that are harder at each position and we want to practice the things that are the hardest. If we can practice things that are hardest then they will get better at them and then those things become things that they’re more comfortable with.
“A lot of running backs … You know I was talking to James [RB Robinson] yesterday and was like how many catches did you have in college and he was like hey we just ran power. They didn’t throw me the ball very much and you know that’s just what happens and you know the more well-rounded you can make the players, the more successful our offense has a chance to be.”
These comments certainly indicate that rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence is going to get his share of help from the running back position whether that’s through the run or the pass. The run game especially could make life easier on him as a rookie quarterback, and with that, things could open up for him in the passing game, which will present Jacksonville with the chance to keep teams off-balance.