When the Jacksonville Jaguars released RB Leonard Fournette in August, many were surprised and wondered what running back would step up for Jacksonville. Fortunately for the Jaguars, undrafted rookie RB James Robinson has been that guy.
In three games, the 22-year-old Robinson has rushed for 210 yards with three rushing touchdowns, including a one-hundred yard game in Week 2 against the Titans. Also, Robinson is averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Additionally, Robinson has 10 catches for 129 yards. What he is doing has surprised many, but not Jaguars RT Jawaan Taylor, who saw flashes from Robinson early on.
“[He’s a] great overall guy, a great locker room guy,” Taylor said about Robinson on Monday. “He’s been doing a lot of great things for us in this offense with [Offensive Coordinator] Coach Gruden, so we’re excited to have him around. He’s been doing great and adjusting to the game plans and knowing what to do and how to do it. [He’s] just trusting the offensive line and what Coach Gruden calls, and he just goes with it. He’s a great guy.
“I noticed it in camp just seeing how explosive he was in camp and how dialed in he was to everything we’re wanting to do. I noticed it from very early on, and I knew he would be a special player.”
Robinson has been running the ball well and making plays outside of the backfield, but the one thing that impressed Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone was Robinson’s blocking ability, which Marrone discussed on Monday.
“So, we started doing some one-on-one pass protection during training camp, and I was like ‘Holy cow.’ I mean, he’ s—and I didn’t realize how good he was at really covering guys up, bodying them up, the strength and the explosion he had,” Marrone said. “So, then I kind of go back, and I went back at the weight room stuff and looked at that. And he’s one of our most explosive players, I found that out during training camp—which weight he can do, as far as his lower body explosion. And then it was just a matter of, ‘Hey listen, is this guy going to be able to hold on to the football when he gets hit in the NFL?’ And I think that he’s proven that.
“So, I knew he could catch, I think he’s a guy that—he can do everything, I mean, he can be a three-down back, he can protect, he can catch the ball out of the backfield, obviously he can run the football. There’s a lot of things that he does, and it’s just, it’ll be interesting to see how he does as the season goes and being able to take care of your body. And that’s the one thing I’ve always admired in this game; I don’t know if you can ever realize unless you’re down on the field, the amount of contact that those guys take, day in and day out, or [on] Sundays. And you talk about appreciation; I have great appreciation for those guys because they’re getting hit, one guy, two guys, three—you know, they’re coming from all over. I know James is working extremely hard to make sure he’s taking care of his body because it is a long season.”
Robinson has been a revelation, and if he continues to play at this level, Jacksonville may have found its running back of today, tomorrow, and years to come.
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