Jaguars RB Could Have a New Home Entering the Season
The Jacksonville Jaguars have one of the most loaded running back rooms in the entire league. Following the recent signing of former New England Patriots backup Kevin Harris, the Jaguars now have six running backs on the roster entering the final week of the preseason. It is rare for any NFL team to carry four running backs on a roster, let alone six, meaning the Jaguars are going to have to make some moves before Week One against the Carolina Panthers. If the Jaguars want to get something out of these roster cuts, one move they could be willing to make is trading veteran Travis Etienne Jr. to a team in need of a running game.
Throughout training camp and the preseason, Etienne has not shown much promise in being the Jaguars’ starting running back of the future. He has been outperformed by last season’s standout back in Tank Bigsby and the team’s recent fourth-round pick in Bhayshul Tuten. Etienne is also entering a contract year, and Jacksonville could look to avoid overpaying a running back similar to how many critics believe the team overpaid for their quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. However, Etienne has had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his career before the down season in 2024. He has shown flashes of excellence in his career, but the Jaguars believe that they are too inconsistent and that Etienne may be starting to head into a decline despite only being 26 years old.
Head coach Liam Coen said recently that the Jaguars are still uncertain of who will start at running back entering the season. Coen went on to praise rookies Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen, which doesn’t help the case for keeping Travis Etienne Jr. The Jaguars started Etienne in both preseason games despite being outplayed by others in camp. However, this could be a move by Jacksonville to show potential trade partners what Etienne is still capable of performing. The main reason Etienne was drafted to Jacksonville was that he was the college duo with Trevor Lawrence at Clemson. Now that Etienne has had fewer rushing yards than Tank Bigsby in 2024 and has declined in training camp, it only makes sense for the Jaguars to move on while his stock is still high enough to get something out of a trade.
Jaguars fans were high on Travis Etienne Jr. on draft night back in 2021. The future seemed bright with him and Lawrence leading this franchise to a new beginning. While the duo has brought Jacksonville to the playoffs in 2022, there has been a lot of disappointment and frustration that has come with it. Now, Coen and the Jaguars have to make a decision on whether the time is right to move on from what was supposed to be a key piece of this franchise moving forward.
