New York Jets: How good can Chris Ivory be?

In their first seasons with the New York Jets, head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey have assembled a three-headed monster of hard-nosed running backs in holdover Chris Ivory, former New England Patriots 1,100-yard rusher Stevan Ridley, and one-time fantasy asset Zac Stacy. All three running backs have the skill-set to make some noise in between the tackles and have the build to take on as heavy of a workload as needed.

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It once seemed like the Jets had a surplus of goods at the running back position and would be destined to cut one of those three players, with some wondering if the holdover Ivory would be viewed as an expendable piece by the new regime. That clearly isn’t the case as of right now, and ESPN NFL Nation’s Rich Cimini believes that “about 20 touches per week” will be Ivory’s expected workload following his improvements in the passing game.

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Regardless of whether or not Geno Smith starts over Ryan Fitzpatrick after he returns from his broken jaw, it’s clear that the Jets are ready to implement a run-heavy offense. Gailey is a fan of running a spread offense and has Eric Decker, Brandon Marshall, and speedy Ohio State rookie Devin Smith to work with, but the Jets have to make Fitzpatrick as much of a game manager as possible.

Last season, Fitzpatrick had a 95.3 QB Rating in a Houston Texans offense that effectively shielded his weaknesses by playing through elite RB Arian Foster.

Ivory isn’t among the NFL’s elite backs, but he’s quietly been one of the league’s best at making defenders miss ever since getting the opportunity with the Jets to consistently receive more than 150 carries per year.

After averaging 3.01 yards after contact per carry in 2013 with the tenth-most missed tackles forced on the ground despite having just 182 carries, Ivory finished the 2014 season with a whopping 52 missed tackles as a rusher. Only Marshawn Lynch, DeMarco Murray, and Le’Veon Bell bested him, and they had 280, 393, and 289 rushing attempts, respectively; the Jets gave Ivory just 198 carries with Chris Johnson taking some carries from him.

While Chris Ivory doesn’t have the cleanest injury history, he’s missed just one game since joining the Jets, and it looks like the organization will allow him to break loose this year. Working in his favor is the fact that one-time star Ridley, who was arguably a top-ten back in the 2012 season, is likely to start the 2015 season on the reserve/PUP, and it seems like Ivory’s chances of running with a true workhorse gig for the entire season are good.

Ridley is a talented back with inside-outside ability and should prove to be a major steal for the Jets new regime if he doesn’t suffer any hitches after last season’s ACL tear, but Cimini’s comments on Ivory make it seem like the team is all-in with the 27-year-old who looks poised to have more than the career-high 18 receptions he totaled last season.

Ivory has suddenly become an intriguing fantasy option with Ridley injured and Stacy falling out of the picture- and perhaps out of the roster entirely- after the team acquired him from the St. Louis Rams for a seventh-round pick. He’s far more explosive than some people think, he’s tough, he makes defenders miss, and he could be a slower, poor man’s Lynch if he gets enough carries this season and stays healthy. With Fitzpatrick at the helm, he could also become a compiler in the passing game, which can only mean good things from a fantasy perspective.

The New York Jets offense has one big hole at the quarterback position, but with an elite defense, a great coaching staff, a strong running game spearheaded by Ivory, and the wide receiver duo of Decker and Marshall, you can see why some are calling them a playoff contender despite their 4-12 finish in 2014.

Although he’s never received 200 carries in a single season during his career and had 20 touches in a game just three times in 2014, Ivory looks poised to exceed 250 touches in 2015 if Cimini’s prediction comes to fruition. As the beat writer, notes Ivory is heading into a contract year and has made an impression on the coaching staff this offseason, so all he has to do is prove he’s healthy enough for the Jets to make him a focal point of the offense for the first time in his career. If he can stay healthy, 1,000 rushing yards has to be the goal here.

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