Quote:There has been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about the Jaguars' need to address the position. Some out there seem to think that drafting one early is silly, as the position really isn't all that important. A few have defended that argument, saying "the Jaguars had the NFL's leading rusher in 2011 and still went 5-11". The problem is those same people talk about Blaine Gabbert as being the worst quarterback ever. You can't have it both ways. If you think Blaine truly was the worst QB in NFL history, then the more appropriate argument would be "MJD won 5 games on his own". That's no trivial feet. 

 

This "the team was already bad" logic has been used to defend letting other players leave as well, including Daryl Smith. This is a loser's mentality people. An every down running back can run out clock, get 3-4 yards each carry. Sure Denard had a decent season statistically, but he's one of those Chris Johnson types who get negative yardage on one carry, and 12 yards two or three carries later. it's inconsistent.

 

I will agree that I don't think FA is the way to go, as free agents are overpriced usually, and at RB you're paying for a worn out product. But I'll take Melvin Gordon any day. The Badgers had NO passing game to speak of the last two years. He carried that team to 11 wins this year. 

 

The running game is still important. Is it like the 70's - 90's when you needed a guy to run for 1500 - 1800 yards all on his own? Not really. But you still need a viable running attack. Maybe not so much in overall carries or percentages of your offense but the effectiveness of it when it comes to YPC and short yardage conversions. It's very important. You look at all of the teams this year in the play-offs. They've got great QB's for the most part leading them. However, Dallas doesn't make it without Murray, Green Bay doesn't make it without Lacy, New England doesn't make it without Blount, Seattle doesn't make it without Lynch and so forth. Oddly enough it was the teams with the weaker running games that fell short. Arizona had no answer there, Indianapolis had no answer there among a few others. Even teams that got eliminated like Baltimore and Pittsburgh relied heavily on their respective running games this year. Bell and Forrsett had awesome years in 2014,

 

So yes, it's VERY important still in today's era and age of football. We need a consistent running game to help Bortles improve in the passing game.

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