The New York Jets have had some ups and downs to start the season. Luckily for them, the season has been filled with mostly ups — until this past Sunday when rookie star running back Breece Hall suffered a torn ACL in New York’s week seven 16-9 victory over the Denver Broncos.
Due to Hall’s injury, on Monday, October 24, the team traded for running back James Robinson in exchange for a late-round draft pick being sent to Jacksonville.
From @NFLTotalAccess: The #Jets swing a key trade, acquiring #Jaguars RB James Robinson. pic.twitter.com/YdTzz1ToDk
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 24, 2022
Robinson has had an exciting career and has proven critics wrong time and time again. Robinson came into the league as an undrafted rookie from Illinois State in 2020 when the Jaguars signed him; Robinson would end his rookie season with the most scrimmage yards for an undrafted rookie in NFL history.
Jets new Running Back James Robinson.
The 24 year old has 2177 yards on 4.5 YPC and 18 TDs in his career. Really good move by Joe Douglas and the Jets pic.twitter.com/tm1KhC9AYB
— Will Parkinson (@Willpa11) October 24, 2022
In the 2021 draft, the Jaguars decided to draft running back Travis Etienne out of Clemson in the first round. It was a head-scratching move for some as Robinson had been so great in his rookie season, but at the same time, Etienne was teammates with quarterback Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, whom the Jaguars had drafted with the number one overall pick in that same draft.
However, due to a season-ending injury suffered during a preseason game for Etienne, Robinson would once again be the RB1 for the Jaguars. Unfortunately for Robinson, his season would end when he tore his Achilles in a week sixteen matchup against his new team, the New York Jets.
As for the Jets, it’s exciting to see them make a move like this after securing their fifth win of the season to improve to 5-2; this shows that they not only believe in themselves but also that they are not going to let injuries end their season. Robinson will definitely be stepping into Hall’s role in the Jets offense. Yes, the team already has another solid back in Michael Carter, but as of now, Robinson has shown more starting running back capabilities than Carter.
It will be interesting to see how Robinson is implemented into this offense and how much he will impact the team.
Robinson will make his Jets debut at home in MetLife Stadium against division rivals, the New England Patriots, as he looks to help the Jets pick up win number six on the season.
As for Jacksonville, they will need improved ball security from Travis Etienne, who looks to be the permanent starting running back in Jacksonville from now on; although improvement has been seen week by week, including rushing for over 100 yards and a touchdown in their 23-17 week seven loss to the Giants, he did fumble the ball when near the red zone and fumbling has been an issue for him so far this season. Still, once that is cleaned up, the future looks bright for Etienne.
Let us know what you think about the Jets acquiring James Robinson and the Jaguars fully committing to Travis Etienne by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
