One hamstring injury and two healthy scratches later, where do the Jaguars stand with former second-round pick T.J. Yeldon?
"We love T.J.," head coach Doug Marrone said, via ESPN.com. "We think he's an outstanding football player. Right now we feel that the guys there are doing well and what's difficult is if we did have more spots on game day, we would put him up there. There's no doubt about that."
He added: "It's very difficult with what we're trying to accomplish from the standpoint of all three phases to get a jersey on him right now. But the minute that we do have an opportunity where it's not going to affect any of those three phases or maybe we need it more offensively -- might be a game-plan situation where we want more backs up that week -- we have no issue at all bringing him up."
It was obvious once the Jaguars drafted Leonard Fournette that one of Jacksonville's running backs would get squeezed out. Chris Ivory, who signed a five-year, $32 million contract back in 2016, seemed like the more obvious candidate a few months ago but has showcased an ability to handle obvious passing downs when Fournette needs a breather. Ivory's been in on almost double the number of passing plays (41) as he has rushing downs (22).
If this trend continues, it will be interesting to see what the Jaguars look to do. Yeldon, a former second-round pick, has just one year remaining on his contract after this season. After a promising rookie year where he gained 740 rushing yards and another 279 receiving yards, there could certainly be a market for his services. If not, the Jaguars have to be content with one of the deeper backfields in the NFL so far this season.
