By Jordan Long
The Jacksonville Jaguars are preparing to take on the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Their starting running back, Leonard Fournette, is out for the game because of a hamstring injury. It has been bothering him this season, limiting him to just 2 games and 71 rushing yards. He is out indefinitely. T.J. Yeldon is now the starter but the Jaguars added depth by signing Jamaal Charles to the roster.
Charles was a free agent waiting for somebody to take a chance on him. He enters his 11th season and the Jaguars are his 2nd team in 2 years. The Broncos agreed to a contract with him last season hoping he could not only help them on the ground but through the air because if his ability to catch the football in the open field.
It didn’t work out in Denver. He carried the football 69 times for 296 yards and 1 touchdown. His average yards per rush was decent at 4.3 yards. Denver didn’t really use him in the passing game. Charles ended up with 129 receiving yards. He was a bust in Denver and at the end of the season, Denver let him walk.
Charles has been waiting for an opportunity to play again. The Jaguars are giving him that chance and he wants to prove he can still play the NFL game at a high level. According to ESPN.com, Charles said, “In my mind, I want to come here and make my own history. I want to start a new history. Everybody says, ‘he’s old’ right now, but I want to start something new. … I want to do something special for the Jaguars. I hope we can go all the way.”
Charles knows he won’t be starting. Yeldon is the starter and he will back him up. Charles will be in the game when Yeldon needs a rest. They are hoping Charles is able to carry the rock and gain 4 yards a carry like he did last season. They also need him to catch the football out of the backfield and those can go for 1st downs. If he can, that will go a long way to helping this team make a deep run in the playoffs.
The way this deal doesn’t work is if Charles looks slow and isn’t able to break tackles. Those could equal short gains making 2nd and 3rd downs more difficult not helping this team in the long run. Hopefully for the Jaguars, Charles looks like his old self and the year will end in a Super Bowl victory.
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