Backfield Breakdown Jacksonville Jaguars & Atlanta Falcons

                                                       (Photo Courtesy of Bigcatcountry.com)

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Jacksonville Jaguars

Last season Toby Gerhart was supposed to be the man. He wasn’t, he ended up severely disappointing his owners. Denard Robinson was the best guy they had in the backfield last year, you can bet he wants to carve out a bigger role this year. They went ahead and drafted T.J Yeldon to be the starting running back. But does he have the talent to hold the top spot on the depth chart

T.J Yeldon

It’s no secret that the Jaguars drafted Yeldon to be the starting running back. He is the most complete option they have on the depth chart. Many of the Jaguars coaches have praised Yeldon’s ability to make things happen in the running and passing game.

T.J Yeldon has an ADP of 51, he is the 23rd RB off the board. One must ask himself, why is a running back with a clear road to the starting job going off the board so late. I believe his ADP is more of a reflection of the team he plays for, rather than his own ability.

Last season the Jaguars weren’t too effective as an offense, so fantasy owners are scared of Yeldon. I don’t blame them, rookies don’t often throw a team on their shoulders and carry them to the finish. It’s worth noting that a lot of Jacksonville’s Failures last season were due to the terrible year that Bortles had.

Yeldon can provide this team with a consistent option at RB, that will help this team all around.
Yeldon can provide this team with consistency at the position. Something they lacked last season. I have Yeldon ranked 22nd amongst RBs this year.

Denard Robinson

In my opinion, Denard Robinson was the most effective back the Jaguars had last season. He spent his first season being called an offensive weapon, in his 2nd season the Jaguars put him in the back up role. This season I truly feel if he pushes Yeldon enough he can take his starting job away from him.

He averaged a healthy 4.3 YPC last season. Some believe with more carries that number would certainly go down. He is a big play back, consistency is one of the things keeping Yeldon ahead of him on the depth chart.

Robinson will need Yeldon to stumble out
of the gate if he wants a chance to start for the Jaguars. He isn’t a complete RB that is the truth. His size is a handicap for him as far as a full-time RB workload is concerned.

He will be better used as a situational runner, the Jaguars know this and they also know they don’t have to give him 20 carries a game to get that big play out of him. I have Robinson ranked 55th this season.

Toby Gerhardt

Few guys represented a waisted pick more than Toby Gerhardt. You will have to look long and hard to find a more ineffective RB than him last season. So you ask what does this season hold for Toby Gerhardt?

Not much, would be the answer I give you. The Jaguars have abandoned all hopes that he could be a starting RB in this league. They have even gone as far as moving him to the fullback position. He will get some short yardage and goal line work, but, that’s it, nothing to see here for this 2 yards and a cloud of dust type runner.
I have Gerhardt ranked outside of my top 100 he should make little to no impact on the fantasy world.

Atlanta Falcons

With the departure of Steven Jackson, the door was wide open for Devonta Freeman to become the starter. However, the Falcons Drafted Tevin Coleman. Now Freeman will have to fight if he wants to be the starting RB for the Falcons.

Devonta Freeman

This is going to be one of the harder battles for a starting job to gauge in the preseason. As training camps start to fire up, so will the battle for this starting job. Freeman will open training camp as the number 1 back, but, the battle is just beginning, a very explosive Tevin Coleman will be there to push him every step of the way.

This is a training camp battle that won’t be decided early on, most likely, it’s going to carry into the preseason and we may not see a clear winner as the regular season kicks off. These guys could be heading towards some type of split.

Freeman finished up last season with just 65 attempts for 238 yards and 1 TD. His most impressive stat was his catch rate, as he caught 30 of the 38 balls thrown to him.

I have Freeman ranked 34th amongst the position. If he were to get a handle on the starting job, then of course his ranking would be on the rise.

Tevin Coleman

Tevin Coleman is the other option in this backfield for the Falcons. He has a legitimate shot at the starting job. He is the more explosive back in this backfield.

In college he had a YPC above 7, Tevin Coleman is also a very tough dude. He played the final 7 games for Indiana, with a broken bone in his foot and still produced like a beast. It’s going to be hard for Freeman to match Coleman’s athletic ability.

Coleman should get more touches this season. He is the most explosive guy they have, they are going to wanna get the ball in his hands. I have Tevin Coleman Ranked 33rd.

Just like with Freeman, if he were to win the starting job, his ranking would be on the rise. To be honest this backfield should be a committee all season long. I prefer Coleman for his explosiveness.

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