Carlos

Hyde

Brought to Jacksonville as an Urban Meyer guy, Hyde saw a mind-boggling amount of playing time early in the 2021 season, sometimes ahead of James Robinson, who was not an Urban Meyer guy. Robinson eventually seized the every-down role after Hyde struggled and was placed on injured reserve with a concussion. Thirty-two in September, it’s hard to see a team signing Hyde as anything more than a training camp body. Look for the Jags to continue cleaning up the team’s roster after a year of mismanagement from Meyer and his staff.

It likely spells the end of Hyde’s season after he was recruited to overtake James Robinson by Urban Meyer. Hyde suffered a concussion in the team’s Week 14 loss to Tennessee and most recently sat out Sunday’s loss to Houston. He’ll finish with 253 yards on 72 carries along with 12 catches for 65 yards.

Hyde has a concussion suffered during last week’s game and was ruled out on Friday. Brandon Linder will return to the starting lineup today after missing Week 14 to a back injury. Myles Jack and Josh Allen are also both active for the 2-11 grudge match against the Texans.

Hyde wasn’t able to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol this week. His absence should be a boon for James Robinson against one of the league’s worst rush defenses. Interim head coach Darrell Bevell said Thursday that Robinson is the team’s starter and “will be played as such.” Using Robinson as a workhorse would be a nice way to cleanse the team of disgraced former coach Urban Meyer’s ineptitude and inexplicable usage of Robinson for much of this season. Everything points to Robinson seeing a heavy workload against a Texans defense allowing the league’s highest expected points added (EPA) per rush this year. Robinson could release the Kraken against Houston.

It is not clear when Hyde entered the protocol, but the missed session suggests he was diagnosed with a concussion, making him legitimately questionable for Week 15. James Robinson will be even more of a workhorse if Hyde is forced to sit.

Hyde’s one carry came on a 3rd-and-8 situation in the first half. He did see two targets vs. zero for James Robinson, but Robinson was the preferred back for most of the afternoon – noteworthy given how the Jaguars divvied up running back usage in Week 13. Hyde is off the fantasy radar for Week 15 and needs a Robinson injury to become viable.

James Robinson was benched for 20 consecutive plays after he lost a fumble on the team’s first possession, allowing Hyde to come in for a one-yard touchdown run and eventually out-touch Robinson 10-9 altogether. Hyde did fumble at one point in the second half so it remains to be seen who will be in Urban Meyer’s doghouse more. Hyde is still strictly a re-draft stash in case Robinson misses time.

Robinson was limited on Wednesday then downgraded altogether the following day. If absent, reminder Carlos Hyde handled a season-high 22 backfield touches (out of 24) in his lone spot-start for Robinson this year. In that scenario, the veteran would surge as a touch-based RB2 in a horrific matchup against the Rams.

He was out-touched 14-0 by James Robinson on Sunday and 30-3 since the latter returned from injury in Week 10. Hyde is merely a contingency player to deploy when Robinson is out.

Hyde failed to convert a third-and-short on one of his carries. He struggled in pass protection, allowing a sack and missing the blitz pickup on Trevor Lawrence’s game-ending fumble. The Jaguars gave Hyde a 27% snap share with James Robinson at less than 100 percent, but that shouldn’t be expected going forward. Hyde has no standalone value with Robinson healthy.