After back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons to start his career, Travis Etienne seemed primed to be the Jaguars’ primary back for the foreseeable future. Then he fell into a timeshare with Tank Bigsby in 2024.
There was doubt heading into year four, but Jacksonville traded Bigsby, opening the door for Etienne to lead the backfield again. Through 10 games, Etienne has 729 rushing yards on 4.7 yards per carry. It’s his best Y/A mark since his rookie season.
Additionally, Etienne has five rushing touchdowns, matching his rookie season total, but still short of the 11 he had in his sophomore campaign. He’s coming off a two-touchdown performance in Week 11 and scored one touchdown in Week 10.
The Jaguars travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals in Week 12, which is a good opportunity for Etienne to prove why he’s a RB1 in fantasy football.
Arizona has a mediocre defense, ranking 25th in points allowed and 21st in yards overall. The pass defense does a solid job preventing touchdowns, but it allows a lot of passing yards. Meanwhile, the run defense is the opposite. That’s a good scenario for Etienne.
The fourth-year running back has jumped to RB1 value because he scored three touchdowns in the past two weeks. Other than his Week 1 and 4 explosions, Etienne hasn’t rushed for over 100 yards. In fact, he’s only ran for more than 80 yards one other time (Week 9). Much of what makes him a top-tier back is his scoring.
If he’s not scoring touchdowns, Etienne’s value plummets. Luckily, the Cardinals allow the 12th most rushing touchdowns. That ranking jumps to the fifth most when considering just running back rushing scores.
It helps that the Jaguars are likely to lean on Etienne more now that Travis Hunter is out for the season, and Brian Thomas Jr. is still battling an injury. This opens the door for more targets out of the backfield. Etienne has caught 21-of-33 passes this. season for 130 yards and one touchdown. He’s not the most prolific pass catcher at his position, but he’s capable of making an impact here. This will obviously boost his value in PPR leagues.
Etienne has a good matchup this week against the Cardinals. As long as he scores a touchdown, he should be one of the top fantasy football backs of the week.