With Chris Ivory at RB, New York Jets QBs Can Take a Back Seat

The New York Jets gave quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick a pair of top-notch weapons this offseason when they added wide receiver Brandon Marshall on top of last year's addition, Eric Decker. The two towering receivers are physical pass-catchers like none Fitzpatrick has ever played with before, save for Andre Johnson with the Houston Texans.

But their most important weapon is one that has been with the Jets for years.

Running back Chris Ivory ranks second on the team in yards from scrimmage and is in a three-way tie for the most touchdowns on the team (tied with Marshall and Decker, no surprise). Through three games, Ivory has smashed and dashed his way to 314 yards on 63 carries (4.98 yards per carry) along with three rushing touchdowns.

But the verbs "smashed" and "dashed" aren't used lightly. Ivory is running hard, and among the league's top 50 backs, Ivory ranks second in yards after contact at 3.27 per clip, according to Pro Football Focus. He also ranks second in total missed tackles as a rusher with 16. 

That includes 110 yards after contact against the Miami Dolphins and literally bouncing right off a tackle attempt by Dolphins defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh. 

Ivory is setting the tone for the offense, both in his style of play and in his production.

"His style, his physical nature, he really is a great representation of what we are trying to be as Jets," Fitzpatrick said, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. "Just a strong physical guy, gives 100 percent effort on every play. We are always trying to establish that physical presence with our offensive and defensive line. His running style is certainly well-suited for that."

The sixth-year veteran running back is finally being treated the way he should be treated: as a workhorse. His average of 104.7 yards per game is the best in the NFL, and he is currently on pace for 252 carries, 1,256 yards and 12 touchdowns, which would all be career highs. 

In the past, Fitzpatrick has been asked to carry his team's offense with a high-volume passing game that dinked and dunked its way to any success it found. That's because Chan Gailey tailored his offense to Fitzpatrick's strengths, which do not include a nice deep ball. Gailey learned in Buffalo, though, that Fitzpatrick shouldn't be asked to carry the offense. 

Year	Team	Pass attempts (incl. sacks)	Rush attempts
2015	NYJ	147	122
2012	BUF	541	442
2011	BUF	601	391
2010	BUF	553	401
2008	KC	578	379

That's where the workhorse Ivory comes into play. On their current pace, the Jets will finish the season with 488 rush attempts and 588 pass attempts, which is within the range of balance Gailey showed in 2012, his last season with the Bills. Before that, though, he had put too much of the burden on Fitzpatrick.

With Ivory in the backfield, he doesn't have to. 

The Jets have handed off to Ivory on first down 35 times and have run the football 60 times, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. It's a pretty good bet that when the Jets hand off to Ivory on first down, they'll either be on schedule with 2nd-and-7 or 2nd-and-6, or they'll be ahead of schedule with 2nd-and-5 or better. Ivory has gained 5.2 yards per carry when he's carried the ball on first down. Only one time has Ivory been stopped for a loss on first down, and only 11 times has he been stopped for fewer than three yards. 

Ivory is carrying the load, but with a 12-game stretch after the bye week, the Jets coaches plan on monitoring his workload. 

"It's a long haul," said head coach Todd Bowles. "After [the bye week], we have 12 straight [games], so, we're going to monitor [his touches] and make sure that he's getting his work in, but we're still giving him some breaks in between, here and there. We know he's a bell-cow and everything else, but we still have two other guys that can run the ball."

For now, though, the Jets may have to roll almost exclusively with Ivory. Bilal Powell just suffered a groin injury against the Dolphins, and Stevan Ridley is still on the physically unable to perform list with a knee injury. The bye week might be enough to get Powell back on the field, and Ridley could return to the team between Weeks 6 and 8. The Jets also have Zac Stacy at their disposal, so the situation certainly isn't dire.

All that being said, Ivory is the pulse of the Jets offense. He needs to be a continuous presence for the unit to stay alive.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.