Maurice Jones-Drew, Jordan Todman set to continue to split carries
Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew (32) warms up before a game against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Jacksonville Jaguars were able to scrape by the rival Houston Texans last week in a nice, 13-6 victory, and one interesting thing that the Jaguars did on offense was get 23-year-old Connecticut product Jordan Todman involved more often. Star running back Maurice Jones-Drew still received the majority of the workload with 14 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown (he also had six receptions for 60 yards) in an impressive performance, but Todman did get plenty of carries as well. He wasn’t nearly as impressive with an average of just 2.8 yards per carry, but Todman was able to get 11 carries.
Despite a subpar day on the stat sheet for Todman, the Jaguars were encouraged by what they saw out of the time-share and seem interesting in continuing it. At least, that’s the vibe that rookie offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch gave when he spoke about the chances of seeing this setup done in the future, via the Florida Times-Union’s Vito Stellino, “I think that would be a really good setup for us.”
According to Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley, Maurice Jones-Drew is totally cool with splitting carries with Todman, and the Jaguars running backs have plenty of team chemistry. A lower diet of carries should help MJD, who is 28 and could use more breathers. He’ll be more efficient on a per-carry basis (he has just 3.2 yards per carry this season), and he’ll also get less wear-and-tear. Jones-Drew clearly isn’t an elite back anymore, but he’s still a good back and is better than the numbers indicate. A time-share with significantly more touches going towards MJD is best, because while Todman has some promise, he is only averaging three yards per carry this season.