Latest RB rankings highlight unknowns at position for Jacksonville Jaguars
Now, the NFL.com's Maurice Jones-Drew has put together his annual running back rankings, and near the bottom of that list is Etienne at No. 28.
Advertisement
"He's under immense pressure to perform with Bigsby threatening his position as RB1 and with the Jags drafting a pair of RBs in Bhayshul Tuten (who has upside in this scheme) and LeQuint Allen," Jones-Drew wrote. "There are several scenarios that end with a player not named Etienne leading the ground attack for Jacksonville, but I think he still has juice left in those legs."
Etienne is coming off a 2024 season where he rushed for just 558 yards and averaged only 3.7 yards per carry. One major change under Liam Coen is that there has been a greater emphasis this offseason on getting Etienne the ball in space, which is where he has always been at his best.
The unknowns for the Jaguars at running back really lies in what the playing time is going to look like for each back. As Jones-Drew highlighted, it's not as if the Jaguars are short on options.
Tank Bigsby was one of the more efficient backs last season when it came to producing explosive runs. Bhayshul Tuten brings electric 4.32 speed and playmaking potential to the backfield, while LeQuint Allen has ample pass-catching experience.
Advertisement
On the flip side, however, Bigsby and Tuten have both had their issues with putting the ball on the ground, while Tuten and Allen are also currently navigating the learning curve that comes with making the jump to the NFL level, and in Coen's offense, that includes learning a robust playbook.
Success on the ground is a must in order for Coen's system to be operating at max capacity. For one, a strong run game keeps an offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations, but schematically, the run and pass game concepts are strongly tied together in this system, so if one isn't working efficiently, the other can be affected.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Travis Etienne's spot in rankings highlight RB unknowns for Jaguars
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
25 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Despite back-to-back 4-13 seasons, the Patriots are somehow the feel-good team of New England, and other thoughts
True fact. The Bruins are a mess and Spoked-B fans are calling for the heads of The Celtics won a championship a little more than a year ago, but Jayson Tatum is out for the year, two starters have been traded, another pair of regulars left via free agency, and the team is expected to sink to the middle of the Eastern Conference. The NBA's dreaded 'second apron' collective bargaining penalties have done more damage to the Green franchise than anything since John Y. Brown. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The interesting-but-annoying Red Sox gave us a nice summer lift with a Tomato-Can-infused Advertisement Which leaves us with the Patriots and a big bowl of optimism. Advertisement They have a real head coach again; Mike Vrabel, a non-nonsense, Patriot linebacker champion, and former NFL Coach of the Year. Josh McDaniels, the best offensive coordinator of this generation, a man who won rings here with Bill and Tom, is calling the plays again. Young, talented, athletic, and mature, Drake Maye is the Patriots' quarterback. He looked pretty good without much help in his rookie season. Can you imagine what he'll do with a real coordinator, a real offensive line, and NFL-caliber wide receivers? Desperate local fans (remember all those parades?) are bullish on this new team. Listen to talk radio and read dispatches from Fort Foxborough. Everything is awesome. Liberated from the Hoodie and Jordon, and Joe Judge and Matt Patricia … impacted no more by the naivete and boobery of Jerod Mayo and staff … the Patriots are operating in a controversy-free zone. It's as if Foxborough is a college town and Pete Carroll is back in charge. Boola-boola. Fans are pumped and jacked, geeked up for the preseason opener against a Washington Football Club The Patriots certainly felt the love when they opened up workouts to the public this past Wednesday. There were oohs and ahhs when Maye connected on his first pass to Stefon Diggs (who seemed to have his sea legs under him). First-round pick Will Campbell looked good with a rebuilt offensive line and charmed the media with his manners. I think his arms have grown a couple of inches since the draft. Advertisement Maye is so popular, he and his wife got credit for donating all of their wedding gifts to charity. The story turned out to be AI fabricated (which is not Maye's fault), but Patriots fans loved him for it anyway. In Wednesday's first open-to-the-public practice, the Patriots Foundation trotted out a parade of puppies, promoting dog adoptions from local animal rescue organizations. Who doesn't love puppies? Vegas has the Patriots at 8.5 wins, and nobody around here thinks that's too high. New England's schedule is fairly easy, the Patriots aren't facing a lot of top quarterbacks, the Krafts Vrabel is experienced. He's a wiseguy like Bill Parcells. He won three Super Bowls under Belichick, then beat Belichick twice (also losing twice) in head-to-head coaching competition. He's taken a team to an AFC Championship game. 'I want to galvanize our football team,' Vrabel said Tuesday. 'I want to galvanize this building. I want to galvanize our fans. There's going to be a brand of football that everybody associated with our team or our fans is going to be proud of.' Bob Kraft told the media he's hoping to 'start a new chapter.' 'I feel good about the foundation of what we have now,' said the 84-year-old owner. 'Now we have to go execute and make that happen.' Good vibes? Kraft is allowing Parcells to take a rightful place in the Patriots Hall of Fame in September. The overdue honor signifies a thaw in a 30-year feud between the owner and the coach that made the Patriots legit before Kraft bought the team. Advertisement It feels full-throttle. Maybe even Full Rochie. ⋅ Quiz: 1: Name the last five MLB players elected to the Hall of Fame in their final year of eligibility; 2: Name six Hall of Famers who hit 49 home runs in a season, but never 50; 3: Name seven Hall of Famers who were on the rosters for the 1995 World Series between Atlanta and Cleveland. ⋅ The Red Sox struck out 44 times in three games against the Phillies. While the Sox were having trouble scoring runs in Philly, Rafael Devers (good riddance to him, right?) went 7 for 14 with two home runs and five RBIs, and scored seven runs in three games against the Braves. Have fun with the narrative that dumping Devers's contract (a great move for ownership, but zero big league help for this year's team) turned the Sox' season around. The moribund Nationals and Rockies turned the Sox' season around. And the 2025 Red Sox go into this weekend with the same record (55-49) as last year's 81-81 team. ⋅ The Red Sox' Advertisement Catcher Carlton Fisk and the Red Sox had a beef with home plate umpire Larry Barnett in the 1975 World Series. ⋅ New pet peeve: Baseball players who get caught stealing or fail to tag a runner out, then instantly turn to the dugout and ask for an official review of the play. Too often, they turn out to be merely embarrassed … and wrong. And the team loses a challenge. ⋅ Standing in the batter's box, eyes wide open, intense expression, Trevor Story from the neck up looks a lot like Dustin Pedroia. ⋅ Three days of Pete Crow-Armstrong was enough to establish that he's fast, powerful, talented, and a hot dog on par with Kiké Hernández. Love the fact that Crow-Armstrong's mother, actress Ashley Diane Crow, played Jenny Heywood, Billy Heywood's mom, in the 1994 film 'Little Big League.' In the film, 12-year-old Billy became owner of the Twins. Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs is powerful, talented, and a bit of a hot dog. David Berding/Getty ⋅ The Dodgers used 16 starting pitchers before the All-Star break. The stat made me think of the 2004 Red Sox, when Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Derek Lowe, and Bronson Arroyo combined to start 157 of 162 regular-season games. This is unlikely to ever happen again. Advertisement ⋅ The Yankees' Mount Rushmore (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle) is appropriately etched in stone. Ian O'Connor of The Athletic posits that Aaron Judge someday will replace one of the Bronx Bomber gods and join the Pinstripe Pantheon. The author notes that Judge has a better career slugging percentage and OPS than DiMaggio and Mantle. Judge plans to play into his 40s, already has crossed the 350-home run mark, and is on course to surpass Gehrig (493) and Mantle (536). At this hour, Yogi Berra, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera are in the Yankees' second tier of immortality, but Judge has a chance to supplant one of the Big Four. Remember 'Seinfeld's' 'Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Costanza'? We now live in a world where Judge goes into that punchline. ⋅ Love the fact that Jon Lester compiled the same winning percentage (.636) and ERA (3.66) with both the Red Sox and Cubs. Lester went 110-63 in 242 games with Boston and 77-44 in 171 games with Chicago. He also won championships with both teams. When we get around to the Sox not competing for the long-term services of their homegrown stars (Mookie Betts, anyone?), it should be remembered that this all started when they wouldn't pay Lester and traded him to Oakland in the summer of 2014. Lefthander Jon Lester had 110 wins as a member of the Red Sox. Jim Davis/Globe Staff ⋅ Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and now Scottie Scheffler are the only golfers who've won the British Open, Masters, and PGA Championship before turning 30. Like Woods, Dallas native Scheffler went 1,197 days between his first and fourth major victories. ⋅ Forty-five-year-old Venus Williams beat 23-year-old Peyton Stearns at the Citi Open in Washington this past week. Venus won her first professional tennis match at the age of 14 in 1994. Venus Williams celebrated her win over Peyton Stearns at the Citi Open on Tuesday. Nick Wass/Associated Press ⋅ The Wall Street Journal reports that former tennis star Maria Sharapova and her husband are listing their Manhattan Beach, Calif., property for $24.995 million. The place features an ocean view and two bowling lanes, but no tennis court. ⋅ Anagram of the week: Giants acquire Devers — Grievances tire squad. ⋅ Best wishes to Eddie Doyle, 35-year boss/bartender at the Bull & Finch Pub (Cheers), and champion of children's charities, who's been battling health issues on Cape Cod. Eddie started the Falmouth Walk — held the day before the Falmouth Road Race, which was invented by the late Tommy Leonard. ⋅ RIP Garrett Haydon of Sudbury, gone too soon at the age of 29. Garrett was a local sportswriter, kind friend, and host of 'Not Your Average Boston Sports Podcast' despite his struggles with muscular dystrophy. He inspired all those who knew him. ⋅ Quiz answers: 1. Billy Wagner (2025), Larry Walker (2020), Edgar Martinez (2019), Tim Raines (2017), Jim Rice (2009); 2. Andre Dawson, Lou Gehrig, Todd Helton, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson, Larry Walker; 3. Braves: Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz; Indians: Eddie Murray, Jim Thome. (Dave Winfield was on the team but did not make Cleveland's roster.) Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'That's 'B.S.'' Eagles coach rips Jalen Hurts narrative regarding Saquon Barkley, others
PHILADELPHIA − Eagles coach Nick Sirianni continued his pushback against pundits and others downplaying Jalen Hurts' significance to the team's success. There were many over the past season who have claimed that Hurts was basically along for the ride, saying that it was running back Saquon Barkley, a dominating offensive line and star receivers in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, along with the NFL's top-ranked defense, that carried the Eagles to their Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. AJ BROWN'S FIRE: Eagles 12 most intriguing players: No. 6, how A.J. Brown keeps from getting 'exposed' "I think that's bull(expletive)," Sirianni said in a recent session exclusively with Eagles' beat reporters. "I mean, (Hurts) plays the most important position in all of sports. And it's the most ultimate team game there is. And what I admire about him is his selflessness of doing anything we need to do to win, whether that's throw − I mean, obviously, anybody who plays quarterback is going to want to throw it 50 times a game, but he will do anything. "If he has to throw it 50 times a game, he's ready to do that. If he has to hand it off 50 times a game, he's ready to do that." Sure enough, Hurts threw for less than 200 yards in 6 of the 14 full games he played in during the regular season. The Eagles were 5-1 in those games. He threw for less than 200 yards in the first two playoff games, and barely over 200 yards in the other two games. But when the Chiefs shut down Barkley in the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, holding him to 57 yards on 25 carries, Hurts completed 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns. Just about all of those yards came in the first 2½ quarters when the Eagles took a 34-0 lead on their way to a 40-22 win. WHAT EAGLES WON'T SAY: The 'r' word Eagles, Nick Sirianni won't use about the Super Bowl. They use this instead Hurts was named MVP of the Super Bowl. In all, Hurts threw for 2,903 yards in the regular season, his lowest total in his four seasons as the Eagles' full-time starter. Then again, Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards, becoming just the ninth player in NFL history to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark. So, Sirianni continued on his rant against Hurts' detractors. "And anytime I hear that, I just," Sirianni said, letting the thought drift. "It's like a nice debate thing that people like to have, and I get it. There are a lot of hours that TV shows and radio stations have to fill to be able to fill that debate. I understand that, but we're talking about the most ultimate team game there is, and (Hurts) does whatever he needs to do to win each and every game. Celebrate the Eagles' Super Bowl win with our new book "And so you name me a team that wins, and wins consistently, that doesn't have good players around him ... Like, you don't win with bad players. You don't win with bad players if you're a quarterback either. It's a team game. That always bothers me, to be honest with you, when it's talked about like that, because it's football. "I just think sometimes that's good debate, I guess. I wouldn't even say it's good debate, but it's debate that people are able to have. But yeah, I guess, my first initial thing was it's bull(expletive)." Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@ Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles' championship season in 'Flying High,' a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Nick Sirianni rips tired Jalen Hurts narrative that Eagles carried him
NBC Sports
an hour ago
- NBC Sports
Bill Belichick: North Carolina is a pro program, we have an NFL approach in college
North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick says he's coaching his college football team like he coached in the NFL. Asked at the ACC media day if he's trying to introduce NFL-level schemes and concepts to college football, Belichick answered, 'That's exactly what we're trying to do. That's my philosophy.' Belichick said he views the Tar Heels like a pro team that just needs some minor adjustments for younger players. 'It's a pro program,' Belichick said. 'Practice, training, food, schemes, terminology, it's all a pro program. Not to the extent that we did it in the NFL — there will be fewer plays, fewer adjustments — but it will be along those lines.' Belichick said to the extent that he'll coach differently, it's largely about the differences between NCAA rules, such as college football's wider hashmarks and the overtime format that takes place mostly in the red zone. 'There's some things I don't think we'll need at this level and other things that we are,' Belichick said. 'Based on hashmarks and things like that that are difference, the overtime system — the red area could potentially come up a lot more than in the NFL on a percentage basis. Things like that that you just have to take into consideration. But fundamentally, we're going to do as much as we can as a pro system.'
