Atlanta Falcons: Steven Jackson out Opens Up the Offense More

According to a report by ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure, Steven Jackson might be out for Atlanta's regular-season finale against the Carolina Panthers. That could be the best thing for the Falcons offense since the offensive line started to jell over the past half season. Jackson has shown that he's too slow to hit the hole and create something if blocks don't hold up.

That's not an issue that the other Falcons running backs seem to have, as they run like they are hungry and hit the hole hard when they get to carry the rock. Devonta Freeman looks like a future featured running back where the future should come early.

Jacquizz Rodgers should stick in his current role because his best assets are his blocking prowess and receiving ability out of the backfield. The real wild card is Jerome Smith. When watching him, he has all the tools to be the next Jason Snelling. Also, Jackson shouldn't just be completely out of a role if the Falcons make the playoffs, but it should be reduced to what he has been good at. 

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Steven Jackson Hinders the Offense With Negative or Zero Plays Too Often

When Steven Jackson signed with the Falcons before the 2013 season, it gave the offense even more of a pick-your-poison look to it. The concept was that not only could they beat you through the air with Julio Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, but if they failed, Jackson could gain some yardage. Unfortunately, it was more of a collection of names that was primarily sitting on injured reserve.

Even more than that, Jackson was just ineffective. In 2013, Jackson averaged 3.5 yards per carry. In 2014, his average rose from 3.5 yards per carry to a whopping 3.7 yards per carry. And yes, that was sarcastically calling it a whopping anything. Sure he's a great pass-blocker and solid receiver out of the backfield, but he's not a good running back anymore.

	First 5 Carries	%	After First 5	%	Difference
Negative	2	3%	16	13%	+10%
0-3 Yards	37	49%	59	50%	+1%
4-6 Yards	19	25%	28	24%	-1%
7+ yards	17	23%	16	13%	-10%

The biggest issue with Jackson's rushing average comes from the fact that most of it comes on big runs during his first five carries. He averages 4.9 yards per carry on carries one through five, but just 2.9 yards per carry after that. Even more than that, his runs tend to wind up for negative yards more often as the game carries on. Jackson has become a paradox in the running back world.

Normally, running backs get stronger as the game goes along. They gain more and more yardage as the offensive line gets used to attacking the different levels of defense. They break more and more tackles, and they tend to break longer runs. In Atlanta, Jackson has just let the game pass him by. At this point, Atlanta would be better off just using him for short yardage and for less than five carries a game. 

Jerome Smith Could Be the New Jason Snelling

After spending most of his rookie season on the practice squad, Jason Snelling wound up playing for seven seasons in Atlanta gaining 2,669 yards on 531 touches for 17 touchdowns as a third option out of the Falcons backfield. He's one of the fan favorites among the Falcons' fanbase as well. Through his four years at Syracuse, Jerome Smith looked like an almost identical back to Snelling.

Even down to his height, weight and athleticism, Smith tracks as almost the exact same running back. The only real difference is that the former Orange running back has more collegiate production on the ground. Atlanta would be wise to slowly start phasing in Smith.

	Jerome Smith	Jason Snelling
Height	5'11-1/8"	5'11-1/8"
Weight	220	230
40-yd Dash	4.73	4.73
10-yd Split	1.58	1.62
Short Shuttle	4.60	4.38
3-Cone Drill	7.27	7.06
Bench Reps	17	15
Vertical Jump	36"	30"
Broad Jump	10'3"	9'5"
College Touches	482	360
College Yards	2,385	2,099
College Touchdowns	17	24

Smith is a hard working former team captain who, after 16 weeks on the Falcons practice squad, should see at least a couple of snaps in short-yardage situations. With the way his contract is, this could be a way for the Falcons to see what he can bring for 2015.

If he shows the ability to create yardage in short spaces and block effectively, he will easily be worth the roster spot they will spend on him. More than that, his special teams abilities could really make him worth that valuable spot. In the preseason, he looked solid as a special teams gunner, and if he's going to make it long term, that's where he'll have to stick. 

Devonta Freeman Should Be Featured Moving Forward

The best all-around running back that the Falcons have is Devonta Freeman. While Jackson was puttering through the holes and getting hit behind the line trying to find the best hole to go through, Freeman has shown vision, burst and top-end speed that Jackson hasn't in the past two seasons.

The biggest thing that was holding Freeman back was his understanding of the pass-blocking concepts in the Falcons' offense. However, since the first Tampa Bay game, Freeman has allowed Matt Ryan to get hit just once with no hurries or sacks on 24 pass blocks. While the sample size is small, the Falcons could use his all-around talents as the featured running back in the offense.

When given his biggest role of the season, he provided the kind of results that one would have expected out of the best running back on the team. He was given eight touches and didn't disappoint, gaining 94 yards on them. That's not including another 11 yards that he missed out on due to an offensive pass interference penalty that looked shaky.

If Atlanta decides to run with Freeman as the main back, it could have its best results. He showed that he can run between the tackles in his limited carries throughout the season and some of his best runs were on sweeps toward the outside. Atlanta has a complete running back in Freeman, and they need to give him the carries to show it this week.

With Jacquizz Rodgers and Antone Smith having expiring contracts and Jackson looking like an ideal cut candidate, the future of Atlanta's backfield is Freeman. If the Falcons want to get a jump on the future, they need to go with their best running back as their featured back in Freeman.

All stats used are from Pro Football Focus' Premium Stats (subscription required), ESPN.com, CFBStats or NFL.com. All combine and pro day info is courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com. All contract information is courtesy of Spotrac and Rotoworld.

Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, college football, the NFL and the NFL draft. He also runs DraftFalcons.com.

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