Chicago Bears: 3 Free agent running back targets for 2019
T.J. Yeldon
T.J. Yeldon’s time with the Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t end very well. The coaches didn’t have him involved much down the stretch of the season. In response, he didn’t involve himself much during games, especially in the last one. He spent the game on the bench with fellow running back Leonard Fournette. Neither one moved from the bench.
As a result, Jaguars president Tom Coughlin ripped into both players, calling them disrespectful, selfish, and unprofessional.
Tom Coughlin statement on Fournette and Yeldon sitting on the bench:
— Brian Jackson (@BrianJacksonTV) December 30, 2018
“I am disappointed in the behavior today from T.J. Yeldon and Leonard Fournette. They were disrespectful, selfish and their behavior was unbecoming that of a professional football player.” @Sports4Jax @wjxt4
The thing with all this is that the 2018 Jaguars season was a circus. Doug Marrone and his coaches lost control of the players and the season went downhill more and more as the season continued. If it was just a matter of Yeldon and Fournette being unprofessional, why were the running backs coach and offensive coordinator fired? There was some disconnect there.
The coaching staff in Chicago is different. The players on the roster are different. I think Yeldon could have a revival with Nagy. Even with the Coughlin scolding, Yeldon had a good season. He had 104 carries for 414 yards. He added 55 catches for 487 yards. He was targeted 78 times so he had a catch percentage of 70.5 percent.
Besides the trouble with the coaching staff, the Jaguars had big problems with their offensive line as well as their quarterback position. Blake Bortles and company had trouble with accuracy so Yeldon’s yards (and four touchdown catches) is pretty impressive. The line suffered through a litany of injuries so there weren’t many open holes for the running game to flourish.
The Bears have a very good offensive line and Mitch Trubisky is a Pro Bowl quarterback who is on his way up. Having a dependable back catching out of the backfield only helps his development more. He’s had success throwing to Cohen and Howard. He completed 78 percent of his passes to them. With Yeldon being able to have success catching a larger number of catches, he’ll succeed in Chicago.