Washington Redskins fans, and fantasy football owners, want to know how Jay Gruden will run this offense this year. Specifically, what does the second-year head coach plan to do with running back Alfred Morris? Morris is entering the final year of his rookie contract and the Redskins invested a third-round pick into Florida RB Matt Jones this year. So how will the backfield workload shake out? It's a question that was posed to ESPN Redskins reporter John Keim in his weekly mailbag.
@john_keim as a random guess what do you think the % split of carries between Alf and Jones? #jkmailbag
— Rob Zimmerman (@Zim489) June 18, 2015
"Last season Alfred Morris took 66 percent of the Redskins' 401 carries," Keim answered. "And in his first three seasons with Washington, Morris took 64 percent. That's a good number for him, and if he's running well then I'd expect that to continue. I think the other part is that we don't know how well Matt Jones will run the ball in the NFL. If he's running well, then I could see him getting a handful of carries per game. Regardless, he'll have a role as a third-down back. Also, if the Redskins are as committed to the run as they say, then they should have at least 50 more carries than last season's total of 401. That won't change the percentage, but it would mean more chances for both. Another factor is how often they use the zone-read option. If it's less of a factor, then that's more carries for Morris/Jones to split."
Morris has seen his yardage totals and yards-per-carry average drop in each season over the last three years. However, much of that can be attributed to poor offensive line play and inconsistency under center. If No. 5 overall pick Brandon Scherff can solidify the right tackle position and quarterback Robert Griffin III can play like he did in his rookie season, Morris' numbers should increase across the board.
Jones, meanwhile, is coming off a season with the Gators in which he carried the ball 166 times for 817 yards (4.9 YPC) and six touchdowns. Although he will be used a third-down back with the Redskins, he caught just 11 passes at Florida in 2014. How well he adjusts to the NFL remains to be seen.
