The Jaguars signed Chris Rodriguez to a one-year deal worth $5 million. They presumably feel there’s a chance he can serviceably punch out some tough yards for them. But his lack of receiving production is a major red flag.
Rodriguez is a throwback runner sorts. He doesn’t have much speed or elusiveness, but he’s a 224-pounder with some tackle-breaking ability. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry last year for the Commanders, with at least 10 carries in each of his last five games.
But Rodriguez seems to be awfully limited in the passing game. He caught only 6 passes in 35 games with Washington. At Kentucky he caught only 20 passes in 45 career games.
The limited receiving production makes him seem like an odd fit with Liam Coen. When Coen was the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay, that team had the 2nd-most running back catches in the league. Coen’s Jacksonville team last year was bottom-10 in running back catches, but with 8 TDs. Coen’s teams the last two years have completed 15 touchdown passes to running backs, the most in the league.
Coen, by the way, knows Rodriguez better than most. They were together at Kentucky in 2021. Rodriguez ran for 1,379 yards and 9 TDs that year, but with only 13 receptions (3 of those 13 catches, at least, went for touchdowns, which combined with Coen’s more recent work suggests there’s more TD catch with Rodriguez than most everyone is expecting.)
But Rodriguez is a limited, lesser pass catcher, and that makes him a modest prospect in PPR formats, I think. Last year, C-Rod had 198 rushing attempts but only 6 catches. In PPR scoring, it’s essential to have a decent flow of those cheap catch points.
In the 32-team era, only 30 running backs have finished with at least 100 rushing attempts and over 30 times more carries than pass catches. Only four of those backs finished with top-10 numbers, and only five others even made the top 30. In the last 10 years, only one running back has finished with top-35 numbers while averaging over 30 times as many carries as pass catches (LeGarrette Blount, punching in short touchdowns for the Patriots in 2016).
Factoring in the pass catching, I think Bhayshul Tuten likely will finish with better overall stats than Rodriguez.
| RUNNING BACKS WHO DON'T CATCH PASSES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rushing | Receiving | PPR | Rk |
| 2004 | • Jerome Bettis, Pitt. | 250-941-13 | 6-46-0 | 187.2 | 22 |
| 2004 | T.J. Duckett, Atl. | 104-509-8 | 3-15-0 | 103.4 | 39 |
| 2004 | Duce Staley, Pitt. | 192-830-1 | 6-55-0 | 100.5 | 41 |
| 2005 | Stephen Davis, Car. | 180-549-12 | 5-45-0 | 136.4 | 29 |
| 2007 | Laurence Maroney, N.E. | 185-835-6 | 4-116-0 | 137.1 | 33 |
| 2008 | • Michael Turner, Atl. | 376-1699-17 | 6-41-0 | 282.0 | 4 |
| 2008 | • Brandon Jacobs, NYG | 219-1089-15 | 6-36-0 | 208.5 | 18 |
| 2008 | LenDale White, Ten. | 200-773-15 | 5-16-0 | 173.9 | 27 |
| 2008 | Willie Parker, Pitt. | 210-791-5 | 3-13-0 | 113.4 | 46 |
| 2009 | • Thomas Jones, NYJ | 331-1402-14 | 10-58-0 | 240.0 | 9 |
| 2009 | Michael Turner, Atl. | 178-871-10 | 5-35-0 | 155.6 | 34 |
| 2009 | Mike Bell, N.O. | 172-654-5 | 4-12-0 | 100.6 | 46 |
| 2009 | Shonn Greene, NYJ | 108-540-2 | 0-0-0 | 66.0 | 66 |
| 2010 | LeGarrette Blount, T.B. | 201-1007-6 | 5-14-0 | 143.1 | 34 |
| 2010 | Chris Ivory, N.O. | 137-716-5 | 1-17-0 | 104.3 | 47 |
| 2011 | Thomas Jones, K.C. | 153-478-0 | 5-43-0 | 57.1 | 70 |
| 2012 | • Alfred Morris, Was. | 335-1613-13 | 11-77-0 | 258.0 | 7 |
| 2012 | • Stevan Ridley, N.E. | 290-1263-12 | 6-51-0 | 209.4 | 15 |
| 2013 | • Alfred Morris, Was. | 276-1275-7 | 9-78-0 | 186.3 | 20 |
| 2013 | LeGarrette Blount, N.E. | 153-772-7 | 2-38-0 | 125.0 | 39 |
| 2013 | BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Cin. | 220-756-7 | 4-22-0 | 123.8 | 40 |
| 2013 | Chris Ivory, NYJ | 182-833-3 | 2-10-0 | 104.3 | 48 |
| 2015 | Chris Johnson, Ari. | 196-814-3 | 6-58-0 | 111.2 | 48 |
| 2016 | • LeGarrette Blount, N.E. | 299-1161-18 | 7-38-0 | 234.9 | 9 |
| 2017 | Mike Gillislee, N.E. | 104-383-5 | 1-15-0 | 70.8 | 70 |
| 2018 | Gus Edwards, Balt. | 137-718-2 | 2-20-0 | 89.8 | 57 |
| 2019 | Benny Snell, Pitt. | 108-426-2 | 3-23-0 | 59.9 | 67 |
| 2022 | D'Onta Foreman, Car. | 203-914-5 | 5-26-0 | 131.0 | 38 |
| 2024 | Gus Edwards, LAC | 101-365-4 | 3-6-0 | 64.1 | 59 |
| 2025 | Chris Rodriguez, Was. | 112-500-6 | 3-30-0 | 92.0 | 51 |
—Ian Allan
