For years, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ backfield has orbited around the presence of one man.
A man labeled as “fragile” in the past by fantasy owners, despite his now 11-year career in Jacksonville. A man who, despite being so "fragile," has rushed for more than 10,000 yards and scored 69 offensive touchdowns as a Jaguar. A "fragile" man who has played in 14 or more games in five of his last six seasons.
It is no mystery that Fred Taylor is that man. And now that 32-year-old man sounds ready to pass the torch to Jacksonville’s running back of the future: Maurice Jones-Drew.
Taylor admits that Jones-Drew’s time to be a star in the NFL has come, which means it may be time for him to take a back seat. Although he sees MJD’s star rising, he is not ready to go down without a fight.
Jones-Drew, meanwhile, seems reluctant to usurp the responsibility entirely from Taylor. Despite filling in as the primary ball carrier for Taylor when he went down with a head injury against Denver in Week Six, MJD seems content with sharing the load with Taylor. In that game, Jones-Drew carried the ball 22 times for 125 yards and two scores.
But it was against Denver, after all.
Even still, it may just be Jones-Drew’s time to take over in Jacksonville, regardless of his desire to keep Taylor in the fold. And I think Taylor knows that, too.
3 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Dwan Samuel 8 months ago
Awesome read! I would like to say that Freddy T. and MoJo are friends. The mutual respect that you discuss is not only a working relationship or mentor/ mentee relationship, it is a friendship. MoJo being in Jacksonville has also been good for Fred because they actually have a healthy competitive relationship. Last season, Taylor was in the best physical condition of his career and even he admitted to that. MJD is probably one of the most (if not the most) versatile players in the league while Taylor is a consistent back who can get the job done. The 1-2 punch that everyone calls them is good for the offense of the Jags. Because the two of them share the workload, they can easily use the clock to their advantage while wearing defenses down. This Sunday we will hopefully watch Taylor reach two important milestones. This brings me to my final point; I believe that Taylor is still the starter for ceremonial reasons such as respect and tradition. He has done so much for the Jags and continues to produce, but MJD would be the back that most of us would want to see as the starter. I believe that the respect the organization gives to Fred is a great thing. I'm sure that MJD will be starting and carrying the load soon enough. Either way Go Jags!
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Mike Weiford 8 months ago
Well, this article makes me feel guilty because I have to sit MJD this weekend in favor of Gore and Chris Johnson. Our league has 2 RB and 3 WR with no wingmen. Such a waste of talent!!! I've tried to trade MJD for a Greg Jennings or Brandon Marshall, but no such luck. Nice to have this problem, but I'm in 9th place and fading....
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Dwan Samuel 8 months ago
Ouch! I'm sorry about the 9th place thing. I had to trade MJD in one of my leagues as well. I have Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson as my 2 starters. If you go after Marshall again, try to offer MJD along with a decent backup te and/ or a solid defense. Just a thought. I hope that you can turn your season around, Mike. Good luck.
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