Time for Jags to find an upgrade at RB

Sports Writer
Published Sunday, May 15, 2005


The Nashville Tennessean is reporting that Jacksonville offensive coordinator Carl Smith has indicated Taylor, 29, may be forced to miss the upcoming season.

Ouch. Say goodbye to those playoff hopes.

Without Taylor, Jacksonville's offense is dead for two reasons: The passing game isn't near ready to carry the load and the Jags have shoddy depth behind Taylor.

LaBrandon Toefield is a third-down back, and not a very good one. Greg Jones doesn't possess the necessary explosiveness and shiftiness to be productive.

With Taylor healthy, the Jags are a Super Bowl contender.

Without him, they are a 6-10 team.

The Jags must make a move. Even if Jack Del Rio is fairly confident Taylor will be ready, the Jags should still make a move.

This season is too important.

The fans are counting on the franchise returning to the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

In a twist of irony, the team Jacksonville should call is the team responsible for the Jags landing Taylor -- the Buffalo Bills.

The Jags need to send Buffalo a high pick in next year's draft to acquire running back Travis Henry.

The move makes sense for both sides.

The Bills, who already have a stud back in Willis McGahee, have been shopping Henry since the offseason started and seem determined to ship him out.

Maybe the Jags could land Henry, 27, with a third-round pick. If not, they should offer a second-rounder.

After a good season, it would be a late pick in the round anyway.

Buffalo would likely bite.

The Jags could make a run at Indianapolis' Edgerrin James or Seattle's Shaun Alexander, but it's unlikely the Colts would trade Edge to a divisional rival and the Seahawks would want a large chunk of premium draft picks. Plus, both backs are too expensive.

The Jags have had good luck trading with Buffalo. By sending quarterback Rob Johnson to the Bills back in 1997, Jacksonville received Buffalo's first-round pick (ninth overall) and selected Taylor.

The Henry deal would be productive in the short term, keeping Jacksonville's shot at a championship season alive.

However, the trade has more benefit to Jacksonville in the long term.

Henry's only fault is that he's not McGahee, one of the top rising talents in the league.

Before losing his job last year, Henry was coming off two seasons in which he rushed for a combined 2,794 yards and 23 touchdowns. He's an elite back.

And he has significantly less mileage than Taylor.

Taylor's career attempts (1,637) are right in line with backs like Priest Holmes (1,615) and Stephen Davis (1,725). What do all three of these backs have in common? They are breaking down.

Holmes missed eight games last season and Davis missed 14.

Backs like Curtis Martin (3,298 career carries) that can still be highly productive despite the extreme wear-and-tear are rare. And the odds of a massive Martin breakdown grow by the carry.

Meanwhile, Henry's tread has a lot of life left. He has logged 963 career carries in the NFL. That's in line with the league's top crop of fresh backs like Deuce McAllister (961) and Clinton Portis (906).

The bottom line is this. Taylor is an old 29. Henry is a young 27. Henry could have his best days ahead of him. Taylor is clearly on the downside of his career.

Here's what the Jags should do.

Trade for Henry while he's still a bargain to ensure Byron Leftwich has a strong running game around him.

Hang on to Taylor for a year, let him heal up and then trade him for a draft pick after the season to help make up for the pick lost in the Henry deal.