Through three weeks this season, James Robinson had 51 carries, 230 rushing yards and four total touchdowns for the Jaguars.
After seven weeks, he was traded for a sixth-round pick that could become a fifth.
Robinson ran for 1,000 yards as an undrafted rookie but suffered an Achilles injury that derailed his momentum. The Urban Meyer-era Jags drafted Travis Etienne after Robinson’s breakout rookie season, although Etienne never played as a rookie.
Now that he has, Robinson became expendable. He’s off to the Jets, who need the backfield help after standout rookie Breece Hall tore his ACL against the Broncos.
There’s plenty of fallout from this trade for both teams’ backfields. Our experts break down how they see it affect fantasy football value for the rest of the season.
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Sean Koerner: My initial projections have Travis Etienne at the RB6 overall for Week 8. JaMycal Hasty will be the backup and Snoop Conner will mix in, but this is clearly Etienne’s backfield now.
In New York, Carter opens as my RB20. I think he will hold low-end RB2 value in the short term. Once Robinson gets up to speed, both could be RB3/flex options with RB2 upside since the Jets run the ball so much.
Hasty and Conner would be RBs to potentially add on waivers tomorrow tonight to stash in deeper leagues. Neither will probably have value as long as Etienne is healthy, though.
Hasty may be the true backup to Etienne, while Conner could be a sneaky replacement for the Robinson role. He’s a fifth-round rookie out of Ole Miss who profiles more of a early-down back compared to Hasty, who is more of a third-down type of back
Chris Raybon: Robinson's departure makes Travis Etienne a borderline RB1. Etienne played 80% of snaps with 14 carries and five targets last week. Robinson had previously been playing 40-60% of the snaps and was averaging 11.6 carries and 1.6 targets for Jacksonville.
Robinson will presumably take over Carter's old role, while Carter bumps into the Breece Hall's starting spot. Carter will be a RB2 going forward most weeks. Going forward, Carter should see work similar to the first two games when he was the starter: 14.5 touches and 60% snaps.
Robinson figures to see 8-10 carries with minimal passing-down work (Ty Johnson could play a bit more on passing downs). Robinson was fading in a major way before the trade, averaging just 1.93 yards after contact per carry for Week 4-on after pairing a 3.14 mark in Weeks 1-3, per data from Pro Football Focus. I'm treating him as an RB3/4 going forward.
