3. Are Jacksonville Jaguars Running backs healthy
In a perfect world, the Jacksonville Jaguars have two running backs that they can trust and lean on to lead their offense. It would put less pressure on Trevor Lawrence on the pass catchers. However, they have serious questions about James Robinson and Travis Etienne.
Etienne suffered a Lisfranc injury and missed his entire rookie season. There is not a long list of running backs that missed their first season due to an injury, especially former first-round picks. However, it does bring questions into what Etienne will bring. Especially when he is a running back who is solely based on his speed and cutting.
James Robinson was supposed to be phased out by Etienne but wound up having a strong season. Of all UDFAs in NFL history, he ranks fifth all-time in backs first two seasons.
| Games | Rushing | Misc | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | From | To | Draft | Tm | Lg | AV | G | GS | Att | Yds ▼ |
Y/A | TD | Y/G | Yrs | PB | AP1 |
| 1 | Ryan Grant | 2007 | 2008 | GNB | NFL | 17 | 31 | 21 | 500 | 2159 | 4.32 | 12 | 69.6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | Cookie Gilchrist | 1962 | 1963 | BUF | AFL | 22 | 28 | 28 | 446 | 2075 | 4.65 | 25 | 74.1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| 3 | Phillip Lindsay | 2018 | 2019 | DEN | NFL | 15 | 31 | 24 | 416 | 2048 | 4.92 | 16 | 66.1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | Arian Foster | 2009 | 2010 | HTX | NFL | 23 | 22 | 14 | 381 | 1873 | 4.92 | 19 | 85.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | James Robinson | 2020 | 2021 | JAX | NFL | 13 | 28 | 27 | 404 | 1837 | 4.55 | 15 | 65.6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Unfortunately, only one of those backs continued to have a strong career beyond the first two seasons. Beyond that, Robinson now has an Achilles injury. Cam Akers set the standard that says Robinson could be back next year, but Etienne with his foot and Robinson with his Achilles adds serious questions to what could be their most talented room.