Tag: NFL Draft 2021

As Ja’Marr Chase struggles with drops, did Eagles land the best WR in the draft?

NFL Draft lookback: With Ja’Marr Chase struggling with drops, did the Eagles land the best wide receiver?

During the entire 2021 NFL Draft process, Ja’Marr Chase was the player to watch on everyone’s draft board, but through three weeks of training camp, the Bengals rookie wide receiver has struggled to catch the football.

Expectations are high for the fifth-overall pick and his three drops against Washington on Thursday night have some Bengals fans experts concerned.

While Chase was dropping balls on third down, DeVonta Smith made his preseason debut, hauling in two of his five targets for 19-yards receiving. Smith had one perceived dropped ball on the night, while the other two missed targets were errant throws.

Outside of some bad timing with quarterback Joe Flacco, , Smith drew rave reviews for his route running and release off the line of scrimmage.

Chase struggled with Brandon Allen at quarterback on Thursday, but according to USA Today, the drops have been a consistent theme during Bengals practices.

But there is something to be said about timing with quarterbacks and wide receivers and if Chase and Allen aren’t on the same page, that could contribute to their inability to connect. With that being said, the drops appear to be a pattern for Cincinnati’s first-round pick right now. Chase has dropped passes consistently during training camp, so much so both Taylor and Burrow have addressed questions regarding the play of the receiver.

Chase had the breakout season in 2019 but went a full season without competitive football after opting out in 2020. Smith for his part has been consistent throughout his four years at Alabama, capping his final season off with a Heisman Trophy.

Philadelphia started the process off by agreeing to acquire the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, a fourth-round pick (No. 123 overall), and a 2022 first-round pick from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and a 2021 fifth-round pick (No. 156 overall).

The Eagles eventually traded up to No. 10 overall to land Smith in front of the New York Giants.

Through three weeks of training camp, it appears Howie Roseman landed the best and most prepared wide receiver of the two while securing an extra asset or first-round pick by trading back to No. 12 overall.

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How rookie linebacker Jabril Cox can help the Cowboys’ defense

While Micah Parsons is the big-name linebacker in the Cowboys’ 2021 draft, fourth-round pick Jabril Cox can help, as well.

Predicting the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive starters for the upcoming season is nearly impossible. With the new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn brought on board, free agent pick-ups, draft picks, and recent cuts, it’s true that every single player will have a chance of seeing the field.

One thing was evident for Dallas’ defense in the 2020 season — Mike Nolan may have been the worst defensive coordinator that the Cowboys had in a long time. The Cowboys’ 2020 Defense was the worst in franchise history and 2nd worst in yards allowed; only behind the 2013 team. Though the majority of the season, Nolan left only two linebackers in the middle of the field, even against 12 and even 13 personnel. They had no help.

This is a good lineup against the pass but absolutely terrible if the offense decides to run the ball. The Browns let the Cowboys take themselves out of most plays with their run zone blocking.

There was zero rotation (from the bottom to the top) from the defense when the run-play wass forming. The safety on the bottom of the screen was supposed to shift and step up into the play — instead he stays back and allows the zone blocking scheme form. The defense simply were not put into the position to win. On top the corner blitzed, and I am surprised this was not a touchdown.

The one position in jeopardy would be weakside linebacker — the position of Jaylon Smith. Yes, he was put into some really bad situations last year but if coordinator keeps the same looks with Smith again this year, this defense may be in trouble. 

Smith made some poor decisions in the run game which ended up giving the opponent very good field position early in games. He seemed to have a slow first step forward and that led to him being blocked out of the play and when he had a chance to bring the ball carrier down, he wouldn’t choose the correct pursuit angle, or he would end up letting the play bounce outside.

Jabril Cox, who Dallas selected with the 110th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, has some attributes to his game that will be a breath of fresh air for the Cowboys’ defense. His pass coverage ability paired with his closing speed and size, he’s proven that he is a force to be reckoned with. It’s already known that he was an elite defender when dropping back into coverage in college. His awareness in the open field is usually something that translates seamlessly into the NFL. He will most likely be used in situations where he will cover any receiver motioning out to his side, like tight ends, running backs and slot receivers, and this will be in man and zone coverage. He is a quick pursuit style ‘backer with the ability to knock the ball free before the catch and after. What we need to know is if his run defense can hold up at the next level. Can he do what Jaylon Smith can’t?

If he continues to work on his hand-fighting when getting off blocks, he may have a chance of seeing a lot of playing time over Smith.

Cox is able to keep his outside arm free (forcing the ball carrier inside) keep his head up while hand fighting and then breaking down to make the play.

Once again, in the same game, he continues forcing the ball carrier inside which then his other defenders have a chance in helping him out to make the tackle.

Against Mississippi State, Cox did pretty well against the run even when the defensive look was uneven. He stayed in the gap forcing the ball carrier inside to his middle linebacker.

Over and over again throughout the season, we saw Cox have trouble getting off blockers, but as long as he is in the right place in the run game with his first step being forward, he has the ability to force ballcarriers inside to his teammates, and that really is the main goal of a weakside linebacker.

How rookie center Creed Humphrey can help Chiefs’ revamped offensive line

Chiefs rookie center Creed Humphrey could be a major part of the team’s revamped offensive line.

In Super Bowl LV, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line had one of the worst performances in Super Bowl history. Patrick Mahomes was pressured on 29 of of his 56 dropbacks, which is a whopping 52 percent. That means one out of every two times he intended to throw the ball, there was a defender in his face; and to make it even worse, Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles only blitzed six times! Kansas City had some injuries and also some optouts in the 2020 season but just to ensure Mahomes never has to go through that again, the team made significant moves this offseason to revamp their offensive line, and one of them was picking up one of the top Centers in the NFL draft, Oklahoma’s Creed Humphrey.

Right now Kansas City has a plethora of stellar offensive lineman starting with a Pro Bowl Tackle in Orlando Brown Jr, All-Pro Guard Joe Thuney, guard Kyle Long, and right tackle Mike Remmers. One thing the Chiefs want is assurance that they have the right guys in the right places. One way to do that is to create competition. Austin Blythe was brought in on a one-year deal from the Rams right before Creed Humphrey fell into their lap in the second round of the draft. Everyone knows that competition brings the best out of players and every rookie needs a veteran to learn from. This Kansas City offensive line will have well rounded depth with all the veterans in the locker room, and that is exactly what Humphrey needs.

Humphrey has the skills to be an All-Pro Center with the Chiefs. One of his best attributes is getting out in space. Oklahoma would pull him out of the line, just to block for his quarterback on roll-outs: 

Not only does Humphrey have the capability to pull when needed, he also has the tenacity the Chiefs need out in space. We can absolutely see Mahomes rolling out as Humphrey clears the field for him.

When Humphrey has to be the anchor on the offensive line, he can pick up the blitz and more importantly, a stunt; end over guards and even ends over tackles.

In the run-game, not only does he create lanes inside the A gap, he looks like he absolutely loves downhill zone run blocking.

Inside Zone Run game is simple for the offensive lineman — you basically just block the guy inside your play-side gap, and once that guy is out of the play, you go move upfield after the next guy.

Kansas City will love how Humphrey’s head is always on a swivel, and he’s always looking for the next guy to knock down. He commanded his O-line with Oklahoma by calling out protections, and telling teammates which defenders to pick up at the line of scrimmage.

One thing is for certain: If Humphrey gets out in space, watch for his pancake count at the end of the year!

The Bills’ rookie pass-rushers can perfect their defense… in time

The Bills selected edge-rushers Gregory Rousseau and Carlos “Boogie” Basham with their first two picks. How quickly will they pay off?

Last season, the Buffalo Bills went 13-3 in the regular season and made it all the way to the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1993. They did so on the arm of Josh Allen and a more than credible defense, but they did not do so on any sort of consistent pass rush. Including the postseason, per Pro Football Focus (who count half-sacks as whole sacks, as everyone should), defensive end Jerry Hughes led the team with eight quarterback takedowns. End Mario Addison finished second with seven, and while Hughes pretty good overall with 66 total pressures, Addison had just 45, and nobody else on Buffalo’s defense had more than tackle Ed Oliver’s 37, going with Oliver’s two sacks. One hopes for improvement from Oliver and end A.J. Epenesa in 2021, but it was clear to head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane that more was needed.

“You’d love to have one, you really would,” Beane said of an elite pass-rusher at his end-of-season press conference in January. “There’s not even 32 of them, though, one for each team. So, I promise you we’re looking for those guys and would love pressuring the quarterback. If the quarterback’s on his backside, he can’t do too much damage to us so we want to be strong up front, we want to stop the run, things like that. But at the end of the day, there’s only so many Von Millers and that type of player.”

Not that first-round edge-rusher Gregory Rousseau from Miami, or second-round edge-rusher Carlos “Boogie” Basham from Wake Forest project to be Von Miller in his prime anytime soon, but they both bring interesting athletic potential to the Bills’ defense, accentuated as it now needs to be with technical refinement.

Rousseau, selected with the 30th overall pick, opted out of the 2020 season, but his 2019 campaign, in which he played 405 snaps at end, 28 over the tackles, 18 in the B-gap and 74 in the A-gap, totaling 15.5 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, and 24 quarterback hurries, spoke rather loudly on his behalf. As productive as Rousseau was in 2019, though, there’s work to be done, and Beane is well aware of that.

“The thing about Greg is a lot of his sack production came from the inside,” Beane said after the pick. “I mean, they played him all over. They played him in the zero [head up on the center]. They played him on the edge. They played him in the three-technique (outside shade of the guard), so we see him starting on the edge, but in pass rush situations you’ll see him reduced down and rush from the inside.

“We think Greg is on the come. A rising player that will continue to grow into his body, continue to add strength. I told you he added 20 pounds (during his opt out). He didn’t just sit at home, he was training and getting ready for this next step.

“He’s a great a young man, very mature for his age. He has the intangibles that we look for a guy that’s going to work, very competitive, wasn’t looking for a year off. He’ll come in here and work. He’s not going to think he’s done anything. He knows he’s still a young player, and still has some rawness to his game, but we like who he is and we think he’s a guy that in time will reach his potential.”

Rookie WR D’Wayne Eskridge could make Seattle’s offense impossible to stop

Rookie receiver D’Wayne Eskridge didn’t have a big pre-draft profile, but he could be unstoppable in the Seahawks’ offense.

The NCAA didn’t think much of D’Wayne Eskridge when he came out of Bluffton High School in Bluffton, IN. Though he was his school’s all-time leading touchdown scorer and gained 1,020 yards and 16 touchdowns as a running back in his senior season, Eskridge had just two offers — from Western Michigan and from Ball State. Eskridge chose Western Michigan, and amassed 121 catches for 2,244 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver, 12 carries for 116 yards as a rusher, and 17 kick returns for 467 yards and a touchdown. Eskridge also totaled 152 snaps as a defensive back in 2017 and 2019, which is an interesting versatility construct.

Eskridge was the eighth receiver chosen in the 2021 draft, selected with the 24th pick in the second round by a Seahawks team that was pick-shy (just three selections overall) as the result of various trades. Eskridge was the first player Seattle chose in the 2021 draft; both general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll were quite happy about the first selection. Both men pointed specifically to Eskridge’s willingness to play defense as a major part of their positive evaluations.

“It makes him a unique player coming in at the position,” Carroll said. “Think about the staff that had to present this to him: we have problems on defense and we need some help, we think you could be a cornerback. How many wide receivers get asked that question? The versatility, the overall athlete that he is, the person that he is, he’s really smart and bright and wide open and team oriented and all of that. I think it just showed the variety and the spectrum of this guy’s ability. We love the explosiveness part of it, but you can also see there’s a few clips of him and you can see when he’s playing defense, he was physical. He went after guys. Which we love what he brings to the wide receiver position because our guys are called on to block a lot in our offense and it’s a big part of the game. That was one of the additional elements that just added to why we liked D’Wayne so much. We really thought about it.”

Schneider agreed, pointing to Eskridge’s “dog mentality.”

“For a staff to go to a guy and say to a guy that’s kind of a track athlete, the 100-meter sprinter and the 200-meter sprinter, I think he was a 23-foot long jumper, for a guy like that, you usually hear track guy and all that,” Schneider said. “For a staff to go to that guy and ask him to go play some defense and go play against Michigan State and go compete, you can see him just flying up in run support, throwing his body around. He’s just a competitor. He’s overcome a lot. He’s just a great guy. Like I said, [Midwest area scout] Jason Barnes did a great job of really getting to know the person, the competitor, and we really emphasize that. When you have all these picks, you’ve got to be able to sort all this stuff out. We were really focused on the person and you can tell he’s got some really cool attributes.”

But we’re focused on D’Wayne Eskridge the receiver in this instance. The Seahawks already have two of the more potentially explosive targets in the NFL in D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. And though Eskridge is not the typical bigger receiver at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, the Seahawks are not going to banish him to slot purgatory.

“We see him as a deep threat,” Carroll concluded. “You saw him, he can catch the ball way down the field, he’s got great downfield speed, he’s got great finishing speed too. The kind of track background he has, you can see the acceleration stay with him as he moves. He’s going to be a guy that can stretch the field for us. We won’t restrict him to just being an inside player. We’ll move him around.”

Eskridge showed the ability to be an estimable deep threat at times for the Broncos — in 2020, per Pro Football Focus, he caught four of 10 targets of 20 or more air yards for 161 yards and a touchdown. We might see more of that from him in Seattle, and while the burner speed is obvious, it’s Eskridge’s ability to take the nuances of the position and turn them into explosive plays that makes him such an interesting prospect.

On intermediate stuff (10-19 air yards), Eskridge caught 11 of 15 targets for 345 yards and five touchdowns, using a combination of athleticism, route correctness, and after-catch speed.

Per Sports Info Solutions, Eskridge was especially devastating on slants last season, with eight catchable receptions on 13 targets for 295 yards, 210 yards after the catch, and five touchdowns. Basically, if you let him define leverage at the turn, he’s going to turn on the afterburners, and your defense is in big trouble. Eskridge tied for the NCAA lead on slant touchdowns with Alabama’s DeVonta Smith, who obviously had a higher draft profile and went 10th overall the Eagles.

And speaking of DeVonta Smith…

There are those who are concerned about Smith’s ability to win as a boundary receiver at 6-foot-1 and 166 pounds. But the tape shows with Smith, as it does with Eskridge, that if you can use your footwork to defeat press defenders at the line of scrimmage, the only thing stopping you from a potentially big play is some kind of mugging at said line of scrimmage. And even a good mugging might not always work.

As Smith does, Eskridge can absolutely nuke aggressive coverage at the line with his footwork. This showed up on his Western Michigan tape, and during one-on-one reps at the Senior Bowl, when Eskridge’s profile started to rise.

If you’re a press cornerback, this has to get annoying after a while.

“Throughout this process, I didn’t really put too much pressure on myself,” Eskridge said of his Senior Bowl experience. “I just kind of do what I do best. I always knew that I was one of the top-tier guys. It was just certain times where I may not get as many opportunities as the guys at the bigger schools and stuff like that. I faced things head on so as soon as anyone lines up against me, I’m automatically thinking I can win. I’m not thinking about anything else. I just went down there to show who the real D’Wayne was since I didn’t always have a camera on me.”

When he did, things went pretty well. As for the fit with Seattle, Eskridge said that this was the place he wanted to be.

“I just felt comfortable being in a good football position with them, more than anybody else that I talked to. They all kept it real with me. It was clear, uncut all the time. I just felt when it came to energies collide, I felt like it molded well instead of going the other way. So I always looked at them a little bit different than anybody else. I appreciated them for that.”

The Seahawks, as balanced between the run and the pass as they prefer to be, now have three legitimate downfield burners who can beat you in other, different ways in Eskridge, Lockett, and Metcalf. Good luck to enemy defenses when it comes time to figure out who to double.

How the Giants can open their offense up with rookie receiver Kadarius Toney

The Giants selected Florida receiver Kadarius Toney in the first round of the 2021 draft. Here’s how they can best use him.

After trading down from No. 11 to No. 20 in the 2021 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected Florida receiver Kadarius Toney. Everyone knows Toney for his speed in open space, hard cuts and elusive ball skills. The biggest question is how Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett can best use Toney in his offense?

First we should note that during Free Agency, the Giants picked up receiver John Ross from the Bengals, who currently holds the 40-time record in the combine (4.2). Kenny Golladay, WR,  from the Lions, who was one of the notable free agents this year and tight end Kyle Rudolph from the Vikings, who is a 10-year veteran with over 4,500 receiving yards and 48 touchdowns.

There is no surprise that the Giants plan on stretching the field this year with their new playmakers. According to floridagators.com, in Toney’s four years, he played 32 snaps in the backfield, 674 in the slot and 338 on the outside. He had 20 forced missed tackles which was 6th highest. 

This gadget back was the type of player the Giants were missing last year. They were 31st in first downs gained, yards per game and 28th in yards per play. There was one point in the season where Jason Garrett resulted in trick plays just to get the ball down the field; even tight end Evan Engram was involved in a reverse/end around. Last year, with Saquon Barkley out for most of the season, Dion Lewis was someone who looked to fill the role of the running back — he could line up outside, and return kicks.  

So when we ask ourselves how Jason Garrett is going to use Toney, we don’t have to look very far. Lewis was not re-signed by the Giants, and so when we look at his assignments, they are very similar to Toney’s skillset.

Out of the backfield we have Lewis in the first clip running a wheel route from the backfield and in the second clip, Toney is running the exact same play. 

Now moving into the slot, Lewis runs a whip-type of route to create separation in the middle of the field; in the second clip, we have Toney putting his personal touch on a similar route.

The differences between Lewis and Toney are speed and catching the ball. 

Toney has the receiving skills against man to man to go get the ball. On several occasions he was forced to step up and snag a ball early catching the defense over the top off guard.

Since Toney was a quarterback in high school, he has instincts to know when to extend his route, continually fighting to get open over the middle.

A receiver like Toney creates space off the ball as well which leaves vertical guys like Golladay and Ross one-on-one downfield.

From the backfield, Toney attacks the outside linebacker, creating a mismatch, which then grabs the attention of the strong safety to come help.

So we know Toney as a receiver, now lets see what he can do when the ball is in his hands from the backfield. At Florida, the offense would come out in an empty look and then Toney motion’s into the backfield and takes a handoff with momentum on his side.

Garrett has so many options with Toney but the main objective is to give him the ball in open space. There will be times we will see Toney as a receiver lined up in bunch formation to give him immediate space at the snap of the ball for bubble screens, route concepts and switches. In slot, up the seam taking pressure off the other receivers on the outside.

All in all, Toney should provide an immediate impact for the Giants offense whether that’s lining up outside, in the backfield (21 personnel) or motioning him at the snap to-and-from those spots, this will be a high-motor, high-flying offense.

How the Jaguars can best set Trevor Lawrence up for NFL success

Now that the Jaguars have Trevor Lawrence, how can they best set him up for NFL success?

One of the most interesting questions entering the NFL season for the Jacksonville Jaguars is how exactly Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will utilize the talents of first overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence.

If we want to know how Lawrence will be used in the NFL, we have to first understand the offensive minds behind the scenes. Urban Meyer, most recently with Ohio State, ran a spread offence with a run-first variation (power and inside zone). Meyer usually ran a shotgun set with a sprinkle of the option. He does a really good job of successfully switching the offensive philosophies based on the quarterback who is on the field. With Chris Leak, they ran a drop-back passing attack, and with Tim Tebow & Alex Smith, option run-based spread. When Meyer had Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde, they often ran play-action with zone-read run style. 

During his career, Meyer made it known that he loves the spread; and with the Jaguars he will most likely have primarily one-back in the backfield and a shotgun-to-run spread. We can expect a lot of motions, wheels from the backfield, hook & flat concepts from 21 personnel (Etienne from the slot), Smash/Crosser (Hi-Lo) passing concepts, and expect to see vertical stretch passing all attacking Cover 2 and stretching those safeties, and lastly, shovel passes from zone reads. 

Lawrence is pretty comfortable with running from shotgun formation and with his athleticism this makes him a deadly dual-threat quarterback who will utilize the read option similar to how Brian Schottenheimer used Russell Wilson.

We should see a heavy run-game early with Robinson and Etienne. Once the run game is established, play-action will freeze the secondary leaving DJ Chark, Laviska Shenault and Marvin Jones one-on-one. 

Since Urban’s offense lives and dies by the run. Let’s check out some play-action fakes from Lawrence that you might see in the upcoming season: 

Last year against Virginia, Lawrence fakes the toss, pulling the linebackers in and he spots an opening in zone coverage. We see him carry out fakes a little too far sometimes, which can lead to unnecessarily hits that he will have to fix; nonetheless it’s better to fix and over-sell than under-sell.

Against Florida State, Clemson runs a power-read packaged with a Jet Sweep which isolates the defense. The backfield option will hold the safety leaving his receiver one-on-one on the outside.

These are the types of plays we see in the NFL today.

One more weird opinion about Justin Fields, proven wrong

One more day ending in “Y,” one more erroneous evaluation of Chicago Bears (and former Ohio State) quarterback Justin Fields.

Just because Justin Fields was selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 draft by the Chicago Bears doesn’t mean that the run of demonstrably false opinions about Fields the person and Fields the player aren’t still coming down the pike. Because they are. Before Fields was drafted as the guy who would hopefully end a Bears quarterback curse that goes back to World War II, we had heard all kinds of goofiness about the Ohio State alum. There was the whole “He’s a one-read quarterback” thing (nope), the “He’s a slow processor” thing (nope), the “He’s an Ohio State quarterback, so he’s going to be a bust in the NFL” thing (not really worth a rebuttal), the “Maybe his work ethic is questionable” thing, which doesn’t even deserve a response that doesn’t include profanity. The best one of all was the whole “Well, he played baseball, and that might mess up his mechanics” thing, which would surely come as shocking news to Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford, among others.

For whatever reason, the Draft Industrial Complex has seemed to have it out for Fields since Day 1, and when you look at the young man’s work on the field, it makes no sense at all. The most recent weirdness comes courtesy of The Athletic’s Mike Sando, who polled a number of NFL executives regarding every NFL team’s 2021 draft haul. It’s an interesting piece, but there are some real whoppers in there — for example, I’d love to have a beer with the guy who said that Baltimore’s blocking schemes are simple, so he could explain that to me.

Regarding Fields, one executive said, “Fields is tough and has grit, and I think he will play through things and come out the other side, but I don’t see the pocket awareness or instincts as consistently. When you don’t react as naturally, your talent has a harder time taking over. I do think he is eventually a starter, but what level of starter, we will find out. Chicago really didn’t have much choice, right?”

The Bears traded up from 20 with the Giants to get Fields, so they made their choice, to be sure. Regarding Fields’ pocket awareness and instincts, the executive didn’t go into further detail, but we can.

Per the Sports Info Solutions database, here are Fields’ statistics last season when throwing from the pocket with his feet planted — i.e., throwing from the pocket and not about to break out of the pocket: 155 attempts and 114 completions for 1,674 yards, 1,115 air yards, 17 touchdowns, and three interceptions. And when Fields was throwing from the pocket with his feet planted and under pressure? Well, I don’t know — is 19 of 29 for 323 yards, 254 air yards, four touchdown, and no interceptions good? Perhaps I don’t understand what pocket awareness is.

In any event, it’s just one more hurdle Fields will have to jump in the court of executive and analyst opinion. The good news is that, like so many of the other opinions that have been given air, he’s already proven it wrong.

How does Travis Etienne fit into Urban Meyer’s Jaguars offense?

The Jaguars took Travis Etienne with the 25th pick in the draft. Was it a luxury pick for a team that can’t afford luxuries?

Urban Meyer had his first draft as an NFL head coach. After picking up Trevor Lawrence with number one pick, the Jacksonville Jaguars also had the 25th pick from the Los Angeles Rams via the Jalen Ramsey trade. So with their second pick in the first round, the Jaguars decided to go with one of the top offensive players on his board, running back Travis Etienne from Clemson.

Lawrence and Etienne become the first duo to be selected to the same college team in the first round in pro football history.

Etienne was considered a controversial pick because the Jaguars currently have a running back in James Robinson, who last year, rushed for over 1,070 yards & had seven rushing touchdowns. His 1,414 total yards from scrimmage was the most by an undrafted rookie in NFL history. 

The Etienne pick was certainly a head scratcher given that there were some prospects available in areas of need: defensive tackle Christian Barmore, offensive tackle Teven Jenkins, safety Trevon Moehrig, EDGE Greg Rousseau. Right now the Jaguars have Josh Allen, Jihad Ward, DaVon Hamilton, Malcom Brown, and Doug Costin but outside of those players, there is a clear lack of depth on the defensive side of the ball. Last year, the Jaguars ranked 32nd in rushing attempts by offenses and 31st in total rushing touchdowns allowed.

So why not grab a defensive guy high, who can fight for a starting position in an area of need, instead of Etienne in a seemingly covered spot? The answer is comfortability. The guys that were available simply weren’t on the coaching staff’s board and this was Urban Meyer’s first draft as a head coach, so in his mind, it was better to stick with what you know rather than take chance with an unknown defender that seemed like a reach at the time.

Etienne is one of the more versatile players in this draft. What confuses people is when it comes to Travis taking the handoff, Robinson and him have similar run styles, penetrating the A & B gaps and rarely getting to the edge. This is why it makes sense when it came out that Urban wanted a guy like Kadarius Toney, the Jet Sweep is a play call you can build around and spread the field with; but it doesnt mean Etienne can not do that, his speed speaks for itself; he just wasnt asked to do it with the weapons they already had at Clemson. 

Etienne had a whopping 4,952 rushing yards and 70 rushing touchdowns and caught 102 passes for 1,155 yards and had 8 touchdown receptions in his college career. In 2020, Etienne was able to split his skills effectively, rushing 168 times for 914 yards on the ground and 588 yards receiving. 

Last year with Trevor Lawrence on the horizon, the Jaguars coaching and play-calling didn’t capitalize their rookie back nearly as much as they should have. The Jaguars ranked 29th in total rushing yards,, 28th in rushing yards per game, 27th in 20+ yard rushes in only 337 carries as a team, which was ranked dead last. Its simple, they want to rely heavily on the run and they dont want to let James Robinson do it alone. 

So what does that mean for Jacksonville? 

Meyer mentions the two most important pieces of a successful team is their run game and defense. The Jaguars plan on doing a complete 180 from last season. They want to be at least top 4th in Rushing. They will have a 1,2 punch in the backfield along with a veteran back who was with Meyer back in Ohio State, Carlos Hyde.

Urban Meyer on Etienne: “The other thing about offensive football is it’s a matchup game too, and that’s where you look for a player that has a little bit of hybrid or can do a couple things. Travis is very appealing when you can move him out there and you figure their fourth-best cover guy is going to cover a guy like this. He’s got a long way to go in certain areas, but he is really talented and Clemson did a really good job with him to this point.”

Etienne is a 5-11 back, 215 lbs, who can run a 4.4. 40-yard dash. He’s is considered an all-purpose back and that is exactly how Meyer plans on using him; he mentioned Etienne being a Percy Harvin-type of player. This isn’t Meyer’s first dual-threat backfield, similar to how Curtis Samuel and Mike Weber were used, and now in the league we have duos like Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. 

The Jaguars need a change of pace from last year. Despite getting over 1k rushing, when getting the ball, James Robinson saw an eight-man box 20.42% of the time. 

When seeing those stacked boxes, Robinson often hesitated trying to find the gap due to heavily-stacked defenses anticipating the run with no change of pace.

There were a few moments last year where due to his smaller stature and speed, he wasn’t able to punch it in for a score. The offensive lineman had to push him in. When he did break free for large gains, he was caught by a defender preventing a touchdown.

So how will the Jaguars use Etienne?

What Etienne can provide will be the attack and acceleration out of the gate using Meyer’s inside and outside zone read. 

The inside and outside zone read allows the running-back to do what he does best — identify the hole and use his athleticism to exploit the one-on-one.

 Meyer has used this run style while he was coaching in college. 

Another very good skill-set Etienne has are his hands. He has some of the softest hands and smoothest transitions out of any back in this rookie class.

 

As shown in these clips, Etienne can run flats, bubble screens, wheels, and catches them all in stride. Urban Meyer plans on using him on the outside or running routes from the backfield. This might be the most common way he will be used in this offense.

Etienne also lines up as a wide out as well, motions into the backfield or goes out for a streak.

Etienne was used to motion-in (to move the linebacker/nickel corner) or he was sometimes motioned-out. He has multiple releases, active hands through his stem and high physicality at the catch and after. Etienne is a true all-purpose back.

Expect Robinson to have the majority of the touches from the backfield, 60%. Etienne should see zone read run plays and toss’s making up 30% of snaps, leaving Carlos Hyde with 5 or maybe even 10%. Etienne will make more of an impact catching the ball in his rookie year than as a pure feature back.

Touchdown Wire’s post-draft power rankings

Power rankings! With free agency and the draft in the books, it’s time to assess how well each NFL team improved.

Now that free agency is well in the books, and we’ve finally put a cap on the 2021 draft, it’s time to assess how NFL teams have improved their prospects for the upcoming season — or not. With all the player acquisition processes affected by COVID, especially the draft, methods changed. Teams may have been more reliant on area scouts than in previous years, the focus may have been more on on-field performance than off-field character due to a relative lack of face time (as opposed to FaceTime) with players, and everybody’s going to have to hope that the majority of players who opted out in 2020 don’t show any rust. Not that we’re questioning those personal and individual choices, but it is what it is, as Bill Belichick is fond of saying.

So, with most of the moves made — there are still a handful of potentially impactful free agents out there — it’s time to analyze how every team did. Here are Touchdown Wire’s post-draft power rankings.