Jaguars Insider: Fournette's work will likely include more shot-gun rushes
The biggest adjustment for Jaguars tailback Leonard Fournette this year will be getting carries out the shotgun formation and not regularly having a fullback leading the way.
We looked at two of his biggest games from 2016 – vs. Wisconsin in Green Bay (23 carries for 138 yards) and vs. Mississippi (16 carries for 284 yards) – to see how often Fournette received a carry after the shotgun snap and how often he had a lead blocker.
“He needs to go to a team that will put him behind the quarterback and let him get some momentum going downhill,” former NFL general manager Phil Savage said before the Jaguars drafted Fournette fourth overall. “I thought it took away from his talent when [LSU] tried to utilize him as a shotgun runner and he was off-set to the quarterback.”
Savage’s point is well taken: Fournette is more effective if he is already in-gear when receiving the toss/hand-off as opposed to waiting for the hand-off when the quarterback is in the shotgun.
Against Wisconsin, 21 of Fournette’s 23 rushing attempts came with the quarterback under center – he had rushes of 1 and 15 yards. On 19 of his 23 carries, Fournette had a fullback leading him and he gained 117 yards (6.2 average).
Against Ole Miss, the quarterback was under center for 15 of Fournette’s 16 rushing attempts and he had a fullback on seven of his attempts (151 yards, including touchdowns of 59 and 78 yards).
In the two games, Fournette gained 344 yards on 27 attempts (12.7 average) with a fullback on the field.
The Jaguars didn’t carry a fullback the last two years, leaning on defensive lineman Tyson Alualu in short-yardage situations. They signed Tommy Bohanon and drafted Marquez Williams this off-season to play the position.
We looked at offensive coordinator Nate Hackett’s first game as the Jaguars’ play-caller – the Week 9 loss at Kansas City. The Jaguars rushed 32 times for a season-high 205 yards.
When Blake Bortles was in the shotgun, the Jaguars had 13 designed rushes for 60 yards (4.6 average).
When Bortles was under center, the Jaguars had 13 designed rushes for 91 yards (7.0 average).
Fournette’s production running out of an off-set was a nit-pick leading into the draft, but now that he is with the Jaguars, will be worth monitoring during training camp practices and preseason games leading into the Sept. 10 opener at Houston.
OT CHANGE NEEDLESS
Tabled in March, the proposal to shorten overtime from 15 to 10 minutes was resurrected last week and could be approved this week.
Generally, when a proposal is tabled at the league meetings, it isn’t revisited until the next year. Our guess is commissioner Roger Goodell started working the phones to fast-track the change.
Why the NFL wants a shorter overtime: It says it will reduce the risk of injury. OK, fine. But it also wants shorter games, so the 1 p.m. overtime game won’t spill into the 4:25 p.m. window and the late game won’t spill into prime-time.
In the last three years, only three of the 45 games that reached overtime ended in ties.
Using the 10-minute overtime, an additional nine games would have finished in ties. Too many.
MONEY MATTERS
Including carry-over money, the Jaguars entered the weekend with $49,850,024 of salary cap space, third-most in the league behind San Francisco and Cleveland and well above the league average of $20,262,042.
But consistently drafting in the top five (and guaranteeing those contracts) and their normal free-agent frenzy has allowed several players to be among the highest-paid at their position. Per the industry website Over The Cap, here is where some Jaguars rank (guaranteed money):
Running back: 1. Fournette ($27.2 million).
Receiver: 19. Allen Hurns ($16 million).
Right tackle: 4. Jermey Parnell ($14.5 million).
Defensive tackle: 5. Malik Jackson ($31.5 million).
Defensive end: 2. Calais Campbell ($31.5 million) and 5. Dante Fowler ($23.5 million).
Cornerback: 5. A.J. Bouye ($26 million) and 7. Jalen Ramsey ($23.4 million).
Safety: T14. Barry Church and Tashaun Gipson (both $12 million).
BACK IN THE DAY
Gone are the days when first-round draft picks sit out the start of training camp in a contract dispute. The new collective bargaining agreement included a slotted rookie salary system and late-spring signings.
Pre-2011 lockout, the Jaguars frequently saw their first-round pick report late.
2003: Quarterback Byron Leftwich missed the first 20 days of camp and signed Aug. 12. He was the last first round pick to sign.
2005: Receiver Matt Jones missed four days and signed Aug. 1.
2008: Defensive end Derrick Harvey missed 33 days and signed Aug. 28.
2009: Left tackle Eugene Monroe missed 12 days and signed Aug. 15.
Under general manager Dave Caldwell, the Jaguars’ first-round picks have signed on June 22, June 18, May 12, May 22 and May 17.
FINAL DRIVE
*In a Sports Illustrated story, the Jaguars’ Chad Henne was ranked as the ninth-best back-up quarterback in the league. The top five were New England’s Jimmy Garoppolo, Miami’s Matt Moore, Denver’s Trevor Siemian/Paxton Lynch, Washington’s Colt McCoy and Houston’s Deshaun Watson. Last on the list is Tampa Bay’s Ryan Griffin, but the Buccaneers signed veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick on Friday.
*One rule proposal we do like is allowing teams to have two players return from the injured reserve; the current rule is one player. It will give coaches a little more roster flexibility.
*Good news for the Jaguars: Teams drafting a tailback in the top five have averaged a 4.8-win improvement since 2000. Fournette was drafted fourth overall. The average is 3.1 for quarterbacks (the Jaguars went from 4-12 to 5-11 in 2013-14).
*Former Jaguars tailback Maurice Jones-Drew was named to the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2017 last week. MJD, who owns eight individual Jaguars records (including 81 career touchdowns), will be honored in October with eight other ex-Bruins. If we had a vote, Jones-Drew would be the next member of the “Pride of the Jaguars.”
