Travis Etienne enters his second year with the Jaguars in 2023 after a breakout rookie year. The Jaguars reached the playoffs in 2022 and will look to head back to the postseason this year.
Jaguars starting running back: Travis Etienne
Travis Etienne, the former Clemson teammates of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, was drafted in 2022 and became the starting RB when James Robinson was traded to the Jets partway through the season. He led the Jags in rushing yards last season with 1,125 yards on the ground and another 316 in the air. He found the end zone five times. He added another 171 rushing yards and another touchdown in the playoffs.
The Jaguars are in the fun part of their rebuild now. After several disastrous seasons and a bad Urban Meyer stint, their draft pick at quarterback and the offense that they built around him is finally paying off. The Jags reached the Divisional round of last season’s playoffs and are set for another playoff run this year. Lawrence is the center around which the offense is built and the offensive strategy involves plenty of passing, but Etienne’s presence on the team has upped its run game.
Who is Etienne’s backup on the Jaguars RB depth chart?
Rookie Tank Bigsby and JaMycal Hasty are Etienne’s backups on the depth chart. Bigsby added over 2,900 yards and 25 touchdowns during his three seasons at Auburn and was selected in the third round of the 2023 draft. Hasty was Etienne’s backup last year and finished the season with 194 rushing yards and 126 receiving yards.
Etienne carries a large majority of the rushing load for the Jags, but it will be interesting to see how they choose to work Bigsby into the mix in this upcoming season.