Jay Gruden's Rushing Attack Explained: Part 2
For the past two decades, the Gruden family name has become synonymous with offense in football. The brothers, Jay and John, have built a reputation on retooling offenses and building a team from the offensive side up. With Jay Gruden taking over the reins for the Jacksonville Jaguars this fall as the new offensive coordinator, we here at JaguarReport are taking a look back at his past offenses in a three-part series.
While in Tampa and on the heels of winning a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, John Gruden adapted the phrase “Pound the Rock” for his team, a promise to run the ball in route to wins. It’s a motto that Jay—an offensive assistant on that team—has carried with him. Since becoming an offensive coordinator—and subsequently a head coach—in the NFL, Gruden’s rushing offenses have never finished higher than 17th. His teams total offense has typically floated around the same tier, save 2013 when the Cincinnati Bengals finished 10th in total offense overall.
Yet the rushing attack for Gruden’s offenses have developed characteristics that have served it well over the years. With a developing quarterback—Gardner Minshew II— and a first rounder entering his fourth year—Leonard Fournette—as well as a versatile back signed from Gruden’s former team—Chris Thompson—there are pieces in place to mold this into an ideal Gruden rushing offense. To better understand what that could look like this fall, we examine the three defining qualities of a Jay Gruden rushing attack.
Related: Jay Gruden's Rushing Attack Explained Part 1
For the sake of time and brevity, we looked only at his stints as either a head coach (AFL, UFL or NFL) or as offensive coordinator in the NFL. That breaks down as such:
- Head Coach, Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League (2004-2008)
- Head Coach, Florida Tuskers of the United Football League (2010)
- Offensive Coordinator, Cincinnati Bengals (2011-2013)
- Head Coach, Washington Redskins (2014-2019/Week 5)
For the same reason, we looked only at those who had double digit carries and/or double digit receptions.
Trait 2: He’s not afraid to ride a workhorse
In Part 1, we learned that a staple of Gruden’s rushing attack is a versatile back that is used in the passing game as well. That can lend to a theory that the ball is spread around not only the field but the unit, or—an even greater possibility—that there is no feature back. While the latter part of that statement often depends on available talent on the roster and the depth of a draft class, when Gruden has had a strong power back at his disposal, he has ridden them to big numbers.
While with the Orlando Predators, the snaps were split and Gruden ran a running back by committee. But when he arrived in Cincinnati in 2013, Cedric Benson was waiting for him. Benson not only recorded double digit receptions in 2011, but he was also a 1,000 yard rusher. He racked up 1,067 yards and six touchdowns on 273 carries. That carry count was sixth most in the NFL that season.
Benson was cut following the 2011 season (legal troubles) and Gruden was given BenJarvus Green-Ellis. “The Law Firm” posted his second career 1,000 yard season, finishing with 1,094 yards and six touchdowns on 278 rushes. Green-Ellis’ carries and workload went down in 2013, due in large part to his split carries with Giovani Bernard who had the versatility to both rush and pass catch, which we learned in Part 1 is another large part of Gruden’s offense.
Gruden became head coach of the Washington Redskins in 2014 and produced a third 1,000 yard rusher in four years. Alfred Morris accumulated 1,074 yards on 265 carries. Over the next three seasons, Gruden used backs in a more split, committee approach. But in 2018, the Redskins signed Adrian Peterson. Just like Gruden had grown to use the talent available in multiple ways, he also knew by that point not to look a gift horse in the mouth. When there’s a talent like AD on the roster, you adapt to him as much as possible. Peterson became Gruden’s next century rusher, finishing with 1,042 yards and seven touchdowns on 251 carries.
There is a danger though in looking only at the first stat line since it doesn’t tell the entire story. So many feature backs are capable of breaking off big plays which means those yardage numbers could come on fewer carries which would negate the “workhorse” moniker. If two backs play in a game and RB1 picks up 165 yards and two touchdowns on three carries while RB2 tallies 96 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, it would be easy to point to RB1 and assume he had the better day. But sticking with a feature back isn’t always about flash—as exciting and needed as the flash may be—it’s about riding the hot hand. 96 yards on 14 rushes averages 6.9 yards a carry. That’s enough to move the chains within a set of plays.
So with that in mind, let’s take another look at those 1,000+ yard rushers under Gruden and what stands out most.
- Benson in 2011 (273-1,067-6) had only four plays of 20+ yards. He was sixth in the NFL that season in total carries.
- Green-Ellis in 2012 (278-1,094-6) had seven plays of 20+ yards and was eighth in the NFL in total carries.
- Morris in 2014 (365-1,074) had nine plays of 20+ yards and was sixth in the NFL in total carries.
- Peterson—who once had 27 plays in a season of 20+ yards—finished 2018 (251-1,042-7) with five plays of that variety but was fifth in the NFL in total carries.
Essentially what this all says is that when a guy is producing chunk yardage, Gruden is comfortable continuing to feed him the ball. He doesn’t have to be breaking off highlight plays every other drive. He just needs to continue to pound away. In two of his three seasons with the Jaguars, Leonard Fournette has been one of those guys—in addition to become a valuable pass catching back—lending to the theory Gruden can lead him to do the same. Fournette’s rookie season, he had 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns on 268 carries (seventh most touches in the NFL) in the regular season. In the postseason that year, he added 70 carries (a postseason league most) for 242 yards and four touchdowns. In that entire span of time, Fournette had four plays of 20+ yards. This past season, Fournette had 265 carries (again seventh in the NFL) for 1,152 yards and three touchdowns. Seven went for 20+ yards.
Jaguars Leonard Fournette has proven he can be a feature back for Jay Gruden. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Running backs are a battering ram, making it essential that they have depth within the unit to provide for intermittent breaks. But the position is unique in that those playing it often become more productive as a game continues and he can build up a lather. A break on a long drive can be necessary. But pulling a guy for three straight drives can mess with a rhythm. If Gruden’s 1,000 yard rushers show us anything, it’s that the Jaguars offensive coordinator won’t lose confidence in a back and instead isn’t afraid to feed the rock to the one who is steadily moving the mountain.
