Jacksonville Jaguars Must Make Adjustments in Run Blocking for T.J. Yeldon

The Jacksonville Jaguars have started 1-2 to start the 2015 season. They have seen a good bit of positives as well as negatives, and there are still plenty of questions that will be answered as the season progresses.

One of those questions is the situation Jaguars running back T.J. Yeldon currently finds himself in. The rookie became the feature back for the 2015 season, but it hasn't gone quite as well as people might have hoped.

The Jaguars offense has both sputtered and excelled over the first three weeks, but more often than not, the majority of the drives seem to rely on the passing game to move the ball down the field.

While quarterback Blake Bortles is improving and his ability to make throws and move the ball is great to see, the Jaguars seemed to be setting up for a strong running game coming into the season. So...where is it?

The signs of a strong running game are there, but it's being stunted by the Jaguars' run blocking. Yeldon has looked good when he has had a little space to make plays, but he's often been met by the opposition at the line of scrimmage.

	Yards	Attempts	Average	Touchdowns
Week 1	51	12	4.3	0
Week 2	70	25	2.8	0
Week 3	33	11	3.0	0
Total	154	48	3.2	0

Yeldon's stats aren't impressive on paper, and the outsider might think that he's struggling in his first few weeks in the NFL.

But once you watch the Jaguars' offensive line blocking for him, it becomes apparent that the blame shouldn't be placed on Yeldon's shoulders at the moment.

Through three games, there have been a total of 17 attempts by Yeldon in which he was met by the opposition near the line of scrimmage and brought down for a one-yard gain, no gain or a loss. The total yardage on those plays? Minus-11 yards.

That means that Yeldon is averaging just over five attempts a game where he has no room to make plays or at least pick up a decent gain, as we've seen him do this season when he has a preferable situation.

Another way to frame this is taking those 17 attempts and comparing them to his 48 total attempts—35.4 percent of his attempts are stopped before he can break past the first level and actually be a threat for the Jaguars.

For someone with Yeldon's talent and ability, that's unacceptable. He's a legitimate weapon, and the offensive line hasn't allowed him to be a factor on one-third of his plays.

If you take away those 17 attempts and minus-11 rushing yards, Yeldon would have 31 attempts for 165 yards. That averages out to 5.32 yards a carry, which would be tied for fifth in yards per attempt above the totals of Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles.

Both of these tweets were before Week 3's game, but both hold the same weight and ring true going into Week 4, per Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post and Matt Harmon of NFL.com:

"

Marshawn Lynch leads the NFL with 9 "stuffed" plays for lost yardage, per Stats Inc. LeSean McCoy and T.J. Yeldon are second with 8 each.

— Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) September 24, 2015"

That's not to say that Yeldon is better than either Peterson or Charles—he's not—but it's amazing what Yeldon's stats would look like if he had better blocking in front of him.

The offensive line has done a fantastic job of protecting Bortles and only allowing seven sacks—it allowed 17 at this point last year, and some of the sacks this season aren't completely on the line—but it needs to find a way to improve chances for Yeldon and open up a serious threat in the running game.

It's impossible for the offensive line to create space for Yeldon every play, but it's not like he needs that much room to get a respectable three or four yards per attempt.

Having a strong running game would open up so much more for Bortles and the passing offense, and we saw that against the Miami Dolphins. They had to respect Yeldon, which afforded Bortles more time and better opportunities to deliver on his end.

It's not a coincidence that many of the best teams in the NFL have a strong running attack. If the Jaguars want to continue to improve and be competitive every week, they have to get the offensive line to open up holes for Yeldon.

Until then, Yeldon will struggle to get important yards and break big plays, consequently losing a lot of that crucial balance in the process.

The Jaguars have a good running back with even more options behind him (Toby Gerhart, Denard Robinson, Bernard Pierce), and they can't afford to not make the most of their stable.

All stats were provided by ESPN.com unless otherwise stated.

Evan Reier is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report covering the Jacksonville Jaguars. Follow Evan on Twitter @evanreier.