RB2? It's difficult to see Chris Ivory
reaching 200 carries in a timeshare with T.J. Yeldon.
In one of the biggest head scratchers of the early free agency period,
the Jaguars inked former Jet Chris Ivory to a 5-year $32.5 million
dollar contract. With 2nd round pick T.J. Yeldon already in the
fold, it will certainly be interesting to see what role Ivory carves
out in Jacksonville.
Fantasy Impact
It’s no doubt Jacksonville views Ivory as the early-down banger,
a role Yeldon seemed ill-suited to handle as he missed four games,
and parts of others last year with various lower leg injuries. Ivory,
known for his power running style, showed a serious shift, shimmy
and wiggle to go along with an impressive burst in his breakout
season last year. Ivory not only set career highs in carries, yards,
and touchdowns, but proved to be a more than adequate receiver with
30 catches out of the backfield. The Jaguars feature a similar,
if not significantly younger set of skill players that Ivory ran
with in New York. Blake Bortles, Allen Robinson, and Allen Hurns
lead a scary passing game that certainly will allow Ivory to avoid
stacked eight-man fronts. The running lanes will be there, but will
the RB1 finish?
If the system, supporting cast, and big contract are any indication,
Ivory should be good to at least duplicate his top 10 running back
finish. Not so fast. Unfortunately for Ivory, his violent running
style doesn’t translate well to health or career longevity.
After a blazing start over weeks 1-6, Ivory suffered a few minor
injuries, and fell off a cliff for weeks 7-10, before putting up
a few decent games over the final part of the season. More troubling
than a few mid-season sinkers, over the final six weeks, many of
which were must wins for a playoff desperate team, Ivory exceeded
13 carries just twice, and by the end of the year was ceding heavy
snaps to a fresher, more effective Bilal Powell. Was this by design,
or did the wear and tear of the long season take its toll?
I’m a big fan of Ivory, as he carried one of my fantasy squads
for much of the year, but when the games became important, I couldn’t
count on him to come through. Unfortunately I think this is a similar
fate fantasy owners will feel in 2016. Despite the cash, Ivory was
signed to be a compliment to Yeldon, and while the time-share will
do wonders to keep him fresh, Ivory will be hard-pressed to surpass
200 carries in a pass-heavy offense. Yeldon will still be a big
part of the weekly game plan, especially on passing downs, so I
see a return to the stat levels of his early Jet career for Ivory.
800+ yards and 6+ touchdowns. These numbers put him squarely in
uninspiring RB2 range. 2015 will probably go down as his most valuable
fantasy season, and his signing adds to an even more muddled fantasy
running back field.
