Jacksonville Jaguars: Carlos Hyde trade gives team breakaway threat
The Jacksonville Jaguars traded a fifth round pick in next year’s draft for Carlos Hyde, and it instantly makes the running game even better.
The Jacksonville Jaguars made a move to improve their team this week, and it makes them a serious threat in the AFC. If you look at the Jaguars defense, it’s a defense that can be one that leads a team to a championship, but their running game needed more juice.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), before the Carlos Hyde trade, only T.J. Yeldon had rushing attempts that netted more than 15 yards. Four of his 67 carries netted more than 15 yards for a total of 67 yards — a breakaway percentage of 22.4 percent.
Hyde has three such runs this year. The addition of Hyde gives the Jaguars another potential home run threat.
The NFL is a pass-happy league, but you do need a semblance of balance to be successful. Hyde already is the best second option for the Jaguars and provides the Jaguars with a more balanced attack to help Blake Bortles. The Jaguars can now open things up even more with play action with two running backs.
Right now, the Jaguars have only ran play action 53 times, and even though it’s 10th in the NFL, it’s not successful enough due to a lack of a run threat from multiple backs. Now, with the addition of Hyde, it can improve the passing of Bortles on play action by opening up some receivers. Hyde is also a decent pass blocker.
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In order to be a serious contender for the Super Bowl, the Jaguars are going to have to do a better job at establishing the run to open up the passing game for Bortles. The addition of Hyde makes them true contenders and gives them an improved chance at beating the Patriots come January.
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