Latest / Duval Daily: A Jacksonville Jaguars Podcast / JAGUARS SIGN CHRIS RODRIGUEZ!!!!

Transcript

JAGUARS SIGN CHRIS RODRIGUEZ!!!! · Duval Daily: A Jacksonville Jaguars Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jacksonville Jaguar's fans welcome me to do Vault Daily, presented by Gen Jack.com.
• 0:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Jordan Deluga.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks so much for being here.
• 0:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thursday, March 12th, fired up to be talking about Chris Rodriguez Jr., the newest Jacksonville Jaguar's running back and I know a lot of fans are probably like, who that is this guy.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not like this is a big name that's been a starter in the league for a long time that we know about, that the Jaguars are bringing in, but hey, Chris Rodriguez is a player that I am excited about, a player that I've been a fan of since his draft class.
• 0:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Since 2023, when I studied a lot of running backs for that draft and study a lot of players for that draft and Chris Rodriguez was a day three back that I was a big fan of six round pick, 195 overall.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's a big physical runner.
• 0:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited about the composition of the Jaguar's running back room right now.
• 0:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that when you look at the top three guys, Chris Rodriguez, Basel Tutan and Lee Quint Allen, there's a clear vision for what they can be in
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And Chris Rodriguez, quite frankly, brings something to this offense that the Jack Wars did not have in 2025.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to get into it.
• 1:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Really appreciate y'all tuning in.
• 1:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you enjoy the content, please like and subscribe.
• 1:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: can also check out jingjag.com, pick up some new dovall gear, help support the channel look good while doing it, can also hit that high button.
• 1:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: So Chris Rodriguez, again, this is not me being like, oh, the Jaguar sign somebody, let's be excited about it.
• 1:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is like, no legitimately, Chris Rodriguez is a player going back to his draft class 2023 that I was a big fan of, I did a lot of work on him, um,
• 1:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: He is a, a gap in B gap runner.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't have the speed, the breakaway speed that a basal student has, but he's six foot, 224 pounds, he is a big physical back.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And in short areas, zero to 10 yards, you do see some explosiveness, some one cut ability, some straight line explosiveness.
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think he displays good vision, good feel for the running back position.
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: in all facets, we'll talk about that too.
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I think that you'll look at
• 2:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: his metrics and like if you just look at the basics that you're like okay he hasn't been asked to do a whole lot during his first three years in the league he had 60 carries as a rookie or a season 51 carries as a rookie 35 carries as a second year player in 2024 and then he did have the most carries of his career in 2025 coming off the biggest season of his career he had 112 attempts 500 yards
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: So on his career, he has under 200 attempts under a thousand yards, but he is averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: He does have 10 touchdowns on a hundred and ninety eight attempts.
• 2:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's pretty dang good.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the advanced metric stuff is really good.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like his yards after contact per attempt are up there with some of the best running backs in the league.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So are his rushing yards over expected.
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so you don't have this huge sample size in the league, but everything you do have in the league suggests that this is a player that with higher utilization could be a lot better, not a lot better, but could be a lot more productive, numbers, counting stats wise, right?
• 3:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: A player that probably deserved a bigger role than he got.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think he's gonna get that in Jacksonville.
• 3:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: He signed a two year $10 million deal that's not like record-breaking money for a running back, right?
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it is borderline starter money.
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think you look at him and Basel Tutan as the two lead backs, the two backs that are gonna get the most carries in this system.
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then Lee Quint Allen as still the kind of pass down, do it all, type of back who can come in and bust some heads, right?
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: just bring the physicality, bring the effort, be a dog out there, right?
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So Chris Rodriguez, though, to me, he can potentially unlock a new part of the Jaguars offense, and I'd say potentially, I feel very confident he will.
• 4:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Part of the reason I feel so confident in Chris Rodriguez beyond my own personal evaluation of him as a runner in the NFL, I watched a bunch of his carries last year.
• 4:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: before this morning.
• 4:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then as a draft prospect, a few years back, Liam Cohen coached him in college.
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Liam Cohen said he loves this guy and he just doesn't get tackled.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that bears out based on what we've seen throughout his, you know, brief NFL career so far, he is tough to tackle.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you see that on tape.
• 4:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Liam Cohen coached this guy.
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now we get some back in the league.
• 4:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it is a
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: a win for the Jaguars to be able to get him.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what does he unlock in the Jaguars running game they haven't had?
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think power and vision in between the tackles, the A-Gap and the B-Gap.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can now be a more powerful rushing attack.
• 4:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Travis E.T.
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: and did a lot of things well.
• 4:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's still even in this past year was not the best when it comes to vision.
• 5:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's improved for him.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: But, Travis E.T.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: and his best traits are vision is not among them.
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: right?
• 5:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Power is not among them.
• 5:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Chris Rodriguez is really good in both of those categories.
• 5:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm really excited to see his ability and I think he's got plenty of versatility to run zone or gap stuff.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: He has the feel for both, but I don't think you're looking at him as an outside runner.
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's more your basial tuton style of run.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think again, between the tackles for Chris
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you can get creative with that to where it's not super predictable and basaltutin can run between the tackles a little bit, but you want to get him outside, you want to get him in space, you want to utilize that speed, that basaltutin does have, and then again with Liquan Allen, he can be more of that pass down back.
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: But to me, this is a really good signing.
• 5:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Two years, ten million dollars.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you're talking about a five million dollar per year deal.
• 6:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's worth up to 12 million.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if he earns that six million extra six million per year, good for him, that'll be awesome.
• 6:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: But right now it's two years, 10 million.
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I would imagine with five million dollars, you're probably looking at a cap hit in 2026.
• 6:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have the official number yet.
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're probably looking at a 2026 cap hit of two million bucks.
• 6:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe two and a half million bucks.
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing crazy.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah.
• 6:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know a lot of people, when I share it on Twitter, I've been a big fan of Chris Rodriguez for a long time.
• 6:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're like, oh yeah, sure you have.
• 6:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, no, literally you can go back and watch the videos and be talking about him during that cycle, 2023 draft.
• 6:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this was just a player who didn't have the testing numbers, didn't have all that stuff to wow you.
• 6:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: But you turn on the tape and he does everything.
• 6:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now I will say,
• 7:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: He has the ability to pass protect.
• 7:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
• 7:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: He also has hands.
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: You haven't seen that as much in the NFL because he hasn't been asked to do that as much in the NFL.
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if you go back to Kentucky, he was a reliable receiver out of the backfield and he was very good in pass protection with his size and physicality.
• 7:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he kind of has that dog mindset, dog mentality too.
• 7:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: You would expect him to be able to do some things in pass pro.
• 7:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he's been incredibly reliable.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had one year at Kentucky where he kind of fumbled the ball a little bit but outside of that He's been incredibly reliable holding on to the football and in the NFL he has like one Fumble and 200 whatever attempts throughout his career So he's been reliable holding on to the football which is important and he's also been a good past Blocker and he's also been a good receiver.
• 7:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: You go back to Again his Kentucky numbers as a receiver his
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: career drop rate was a little bit high, but he had the ability.
• 8:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: He flashed the ability to be a good receiver out of Kentucky.
• 8:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then as a pass protector, like there was some unbelievable reps on tape for him as a pass protector.
• 8:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: hasn't been asked to do as much of either of those things in the NFL.
• 8:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think he's going to be asked to do a ton of that in Jacksonville.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think you're going to look at him as a player that you want to pound the rock with.
• 8:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you want to be able to have a little bit of, you know, the deception, like you don't know exactly what the Jaguars are doing when Chris Rodriguez is in the game, right?
• 8:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: You want him to have a little bit of versatility.
• 8:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: but his main role is going to be running the ball, running physical running tough with good vision in between the tackles.
• 8:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's going to be the main role and the Jaguars just didn't have a back last year that really fit that role in a big way.
• 8:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm excited about it.
• 8:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not like they signed.
• 8:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Derek Henry or something like that so like it's not like this is your workhorse back for the next five years but he is a good player and I'm excited to see him in this role and probably a bigger role than he's seen so far in his career and now again similar to the Buster Brown signing.
• 9:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to go into the draft and be like, we really need to run you back on day two.
• 9:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: If the right running back falls to you at the right spot and you're excited about it, then you can take one.
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: But you're not forced into taking one now.
• 9:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because you do have a veteran here in Chris Rodriguez, you're too young guys on Bacial Tutany, like Quint Allen, and of course you don't want to forget about DJ Dallas, who is a very good returner, special teams player, and also does have some value.
• 9:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: on offense.
• 9:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, really appreciate y'all tuning in here.
• 9:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you enjoy the content, please like and subscribe, I mean how you're feeling about Chris Rodriguez and the comment section below, y'all have a good one.