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Denard and Ace in Jedd Fisch's Offense


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This past weekend the Jaguars drafted Denard Robinson and Ace Sanders in the middle rounds of the draft. Many applauded the picks as they add to a growing cast of playmakers on a young offense as well as serve as the teams returners on special teams. One of the big questions however is how Denard Robinson fits into the Jaguars offense. The former QB turned WR/RB/KR doesn't seem to have a position yet even with the Jaguars selecting him as a runningback. In his press conference David Caldwell mentioned using him in the slot and as a returner to go along with his runningback role. Ace Sanders role is a little more defined as he is expected to be the teams primary punt returner and compete for the starting slot WR role. Still there is a little uncertainty on their roles in Jeff Fisch's new offense. After drafting these players I thought back to a few plays I remembered Jedd Fisch running last year in Miami and it got me thinking of a few plays the Jaguars now can run with Denard and Ace.

Now we know Denard will serve primarily as a RB according to Caldwell. So we can expect Denard to come in and serve as a change of pace back here and there, probably some pitches and sweep running plays that will try to utilize Denard's speed. These players are common and expected. What Denard offers however is the ability to pass. Here is a play ran by Miami last year: http://youtu.be/VJVI5PsjhU8?t=44s In this play Miami pitches the ball outside to Duke Johnson who instead of running in outside, throws a touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone. This type of play is something that Jedd Fisch can now run with Denard Robinson at RB. Though obviously a majority of the time Fisch will call basic run plays with Denard in the game, Robinson now offers the Jaguars another dimension that they did not have before. Along the same lines is this play Miami ran a few times last year where the RB takes a pitch and instead of running outside throws a quick pass back across the field to the QB who takes the ball upfield http://youtu.be/LoXgPP1tr-Y?t=5m13s. Again this is something that Denard Robinson could do very easy given his QB background. This play specifically I think would work beautifully with Matt Scott at QB as Scott is extremely athletic and can run well. That being said, Gabbert has the ability to run as well so it could work just fine with Gabbert in the game as well. Like Denard, Ace Sanders also offers the Jaguars the ability to run a few more trick plays and gives the team a new dimension. Seen here http://youtu.be/5nXk1vz1V8I?t=1m50s Ace takes a screen pass and instead of running, lofts a pretty nice TD pass to his teammate. So though Denard is more known for his passing ability, Ace apparently can throw a decent pass as well. Conceivably the Jaguars could have there QB, Denard at RB and Ace in the slot which would be three players capable of throwing the ball on the field at one time. Also a note, the Jaguars that Denard offers the Jaguars an in-game worst case scenario QB option in case of multiple injuries to its QBs. Though the new 3rd QB designation makes that chance highly unlikely.

Now obviously these a rare examples of what Denard or Ace could possibly do for the Jaguars. At Miami last year, Jedd Fisch only called 6 passing plays where a RB or WR threw the ball. So thats less then 1% of the time did he call these type of trick plays. Nevertheless its good to keep in mind that the Jaguars now have some playmakers that can run these type of plays that Jedd has used before. It may not happen often but its still nice to know that the Jaguars offensive playbook got a little bit bigger this weekend with the addition of these two.


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