Jacksonville Jaguars: Why is the run game struggling in preseason?
By Larry Brake
The Jacksonville Jaguars rushing attack has been ineffective after two preseason games — should they be worried?
The Jacksonville Jaguars have tried, in recent years, to employ the power running game. Injuries have hampered their effort, especially in 2018. After two preseason games, the power rushing attack needs a spark.
Preseason games are insights into the depth of the Jaguars roster. There are five running backs on the current roster. The bad news is, Alfred Blue and Ryquell Armstead are nursing injuries. Leonard Fournette has not played a snap.
The rushing offensive can be best described as consistently bad. Against Baltimore, the Jaguars rushed the ball for 68 yards to average 2.8 yards per rush. Everyone would agree that Jacksonville looked horrible.
In the next game, against Philadelphia, Jacksonville ran for 59 yards. Still, they averaged only 2.8 yards per carry. Why can’t this team run the ball efficiently?
The easiest answer is to point to the offensive line. In both games, projected backups played each snap. However, this begs a few glaring questions that need to be addressed.
Is there a vast talent divide between the starting linemen and the backups? Does the talent level drop off so much that only the starters can move the ball? If so, let’s hope the starters stay healthy all season long.
The projected starters have injury issues, as well. Cam Robinson has been activated to practice this past week. Brandon Linder and Andrew Norwell missed games in 2018 because of injuries.
Is the blocking scheme a reason why Jacksonville has trouble running the ball? There has been a move away from straight drive blocking in favor of the zone blocking philosophy. Zone blocking attempts to create cutback lanes for the running back to counteract the over pursuit by the defense.
Finally, is there a fundamental offensive change coming to Jacksonville? Are the Jaguars moving away from the power running attack into a spread offense? Perhaps embracing the air raid offense is in the works?
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Only Doug Marrone knows how to fix the running game. Jacksonville travels to Miami for their third preseason game. Expect Marrone to play the starters through the first quarter. The Jaguars need to win the battle on the line of scrimmage. Watch to see if the Jaguars are able to move Miami off the ball.