Bolstering the run game appears to have been on Redskins General Manager Scot McCloughan’s mind when the team went into the draft this year.
He selected Brandon Scherff in the first round to provide some needed talent to the team’s offensive line and then added two more offensive linemen as the draft wrapped up on Saturday. They also drafted former Florida running back Matt Jones to the roster in a move that coach Jay Gruden said would have no impact on incumbent starter Alfred Morris’s role in Washington.
“No, no, Alfred won’t be affected,” Gruden said, via the team’s website. “Alfred’s still the running back here. He’s had three great seasons and that won’t change, but to add another guy that can come in here and pound the rock a little bit doesn’t hurt anything. It’ll help Alfred in that regard taking some carries off of him, but for the most part, Alfred will be getting the bulk of the carries and Matt will get some too, obviously.”
At 6-foot-2 and 231 pounds, pounding the rock should be Jones’s speciality as a ball carrier at the professional level. He also earned good marks for his pass blocking, which should set him up well as a complementary piece for Gruden to use behind Morris. If he proves capable of doing more than that it’s all the better for the Redskins, but a capable reserve is really what they need as Morris accounted for all but 19 of last year’s carries by tailbacks currently on the roster.
