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          NFL Nation

          New Jaguars RB Jamaal Charles ideal relief for T.J. Yeldon

          • Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterOct 9, 2018, 08:13 PM
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              Michael DiRocco is an NFL reporter at ESPN. DiRocco covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN.com and Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner. You can follow DiRocco on Twitter at @ESPNdirocco.
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          JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are adding one of the most effective running backs in NFL history, but don't expect Jamaal Charles to take over as the No. 1 tailback.

          Charles gives the Jaguars a player who can handle 10-15 touches per game. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is not limited in how he can use Charles, either, which makes him an ideal relief for T.J. Yeldon while Leonard Fournette is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury.

          Yeldon played 77 of the Jaguars' 83 offensive snaps in last Sunday's loss to Kansas City because Corey Grant went down with a foot injury early in the second quarter. That's an untenable pace and the Jaguars had to add at least one running back they could trust this week, because first-year running back Brandon Wilds really struggled against the Chiefs. He ran twice for 6 yards and went the wrong way to block which resulted in a hit on quarterback Blake Bortles.

          Charles turns 32 on Dec. 27, but he has had a light workload the past three years. He had 895 offensive touches from 2012 to 2014, but has just 198 in the past three seasons. He tore his right ACL five games into the 2015 season and had his 2016 season cut short after three games because he needed a second surgery on that same knee.

          Charles had 92 touches last season with Denver and wasn't in a camp with any team this year.

          Even with his smaller workload, Charles has the highest per-carry average in NFL history of any running back with at least 1,000 carries. Per ESPN Stats & Information, Charles' 5.4 yards per carry is better than Jim Brown (5.2) and Barry Sanders (5.0).

          Hackett can use Charles as an inside runner as well as a receiver out of the backfield (308 catches, including 70 in 2013). Grant had little success as an inside runner (six carries for 21 yards), but thrived catching the ball on the perimeter, so his presence on the field was a tipoff to the defense.

          Yeldon will still get the bulk of the work, especially over the next few weeks as Charles gets back into game shape, but if Charles is healthy, he stabilizes the Jaguars' running back situation. It will be interesting to see the workload division when Fournette returns, though when that will be remains unclear.