\u201cLast year, Travis Etienne was our bellcow. He was the back. He was the guy,\u201d executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli told 1010XL<\/a>. \u201cWe love Travis. A lot of times, fans and people look at it and say, \u2018Well they didn\u2019t re-sign him, must not\u2019ve liked him.\u2019 That\u2019s not the case at all. There\u2019s a thing called the salary cap. We have X dollars, and when you invest in one area, it limits where you can invest in other areas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew Travis was going to get paid a lot of money, as he should. He\u2019s a very good football player. We also knew we wanted to be more efficient in the run game. Travis is great outside, big-play, really electric in the pass game. We saw that last year. Does so many things well. And talk about just a great guy, great in the locker room. We said, \u2018Hey, we need to get better.\u2019 I think we were 31st as far as 3rd-and-to-go yards last year.\u201d<\/p>\n The numbers from Sports Info Solutions back that up. When handing the ball to a running back on third down last season, Jacksonville \u201cmoved those chains\u201d at the second-lowest clip in the NFL (32.4%). On such plays, the Jags also ranked bottom-five in yards per attempt, yards after contact per attempt, Expected Points Added (EPA) per attempt, and success rate.<\/p>\n Etienne is a dangerous ball-carrier in the open field, but when the picture got muddy \u2014 as it so often does in the NFL \u2014 the Jaguars\u2019 run game waned.<\/p>\n 2025\u2019s early-season mirage of a potent rushing attack eventually revealed itself as a struggling unit. Head coach Liam Coen called it the underlying \u201cstink\u201d of Jacksonville\u2019s 8-0 streak to cap the regular season.<\/p>\n Jaguars RB efficiency throughout 2025Weeks 1-6Weeks 7-12Weeks 13-18Yards per game102.0 (6th)108.0 (12th)64.8 (30th)Yards per attempt4.9 (7th)4.2 (18th)3.3 (30th)1st down rate18.4% (29th)27.7% (6th)16.1% (31st)EPA per play0.00 (13th)0.05 (8th)-0.27 (32nd)Success rate44.0% (21st)46.9% (12th)36.4% (32nd)<\/p>\n There\u2019s some blame to go around. Jaguars running backs were hit at\/behind the line of scrimmage on 37.6% of carries in Weeks 1-6, then 42.3% in Weeks 7-12, then a league-high 56.8% in Weeks 13-18. Midseason injuries to the tight end group somewhat limited Coen\u2019s playbook. Maybe there was an unreported stomach bug in the running back room.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, though, Next Gen Stats charted the backfield with just 30 rushing yards over expected in 2025. That includes -40 rushing yards over expected from Weeks 13-18.<\/p>\n \u201cRushing yards over expected and yards after contact is what I give a crap about personally,\u201d Coen said in late March. Jacksonville\u2019s running backs as a whole ranked bottom-10 in both last season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like, what are you doing outside of what we\u2019re blocking? And what does that look like? Because I can\u2019t coach that. Guys that get more than what\u2019s there, I can\u2019t coach that. The guys that break tackles at a high level, whether it\u2019s via Reggie Bush, whether it\u2019s with stiff arms, jumping over them, running through them, I don\u2019t care how you do it, I just care that you do it, because I can\u2019t coach it. \u2026 If the run is blocked for eight yards and we get eight yards, well, it\u2019s kind of like, I need more, I want to see more.\u201d<\/p>\n Based on reports about Kenneth Walker III<\/a> and J.K. Dobbins<\/a>, the Jaguars wished to add a star slugger in free agency. When that market dried up, Jacksonville looked to sign a player who regularly gets on base.<\/p>\n Enter Chris Rodriguez Jr., who rushed for 67 yards over expected last season. He ranked third among 51 running backs in percentage of runs that went for more yardage than expected (45.5%).<\/p>\n \u201cI love C-Rod. He\u2019s going to get downhill and he\u2019s going to run somebody over,\u201d tight end Brenton Strange said at training camp<\/a>. \u201cIn those short-yardage situations sometimes last year, not saying anything about anybody, but that\u2019s just the type of back we need. You need a back like that and you need somebody that\u2019s going to get downhill and get those dirty yards. It\u2019s all about the hidden yards. Can you get plus-two on contact? And C-Rod does that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s going to be great for us because he can get those dirty yards,\u201d quarterback Trevor Lawrence reiterated. \u201cAnd he also has the capability to make people miss. So, I think he\u2019s really well-rounded and he has been doing a good job for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Count offensive coordinator Grant Udinski among those excited to work with Rodriguez. \u201cHe gives you an element of the run game that might not always be 80-yard runs, but when you look at it, how often are 80-yard runs really showing up in the NFL nowadays? Pretty few and far between, but what he does give you is the opportunity to still get explosive runs and then be efficient on the runs that might not always be perfectly blocked.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty of excitement in the Jaguars\u2019 building for their newest running back.<\/p>\n Rodriguez is far from a household name. He was a three-star recruit, a sixth-round draft pick, and an inexpensive free agent signing. At this point in his career, he only has one 1,000-yard season on his Pro Football Reference page, and one accolade listed under his Wikipedia page: Second-team All-SEC (2021).<\/p>\n That 1,000-yard campaign and All-SEC nod coincided in 2021 \u2014 when Coen called plays for the Kentucky Wildcats.<\/p>\n Rodriguez captured a second-place finish in yards per game (106.1) and a top-five mark in yards per carry (6.1) among SEC running backs. Only six other players in the conference scored more touchdowns than his 12. It was a productive marriage between running back and playcaller.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just doesn\u2019t get tackled,\u201d Coen gushed on the John Keim Report<\/a> after Washington drafted Rodriguez in 2023. \u201cIt\u2019s so hard to evaluate running backs when you\u2019re not live. And so I\u2019d watch him, and I\u2019d watch him go throughout [practice], and I went, \u2018Yeah, okay, he\u2019s a good player. Seems it, you can tell, maybe he\u2019s got it in him.\u2019 But we would go to scrimmage, and go to games, and it was a totally different movie. He was a kid that, just, nobody wanted to tackle. And, also, he gets better as the game goes.\u201d<\/p>\n Coen has echoed those sentiments this offseason. \u201cI think Chris will be a good added thump that we continue to need and get some of those hard yards, which is very difficult to see at this time of year [before pads come on],\u201d he said in May. He added in July: \u201cUntil we play tackle football, it\u2019s going to be very difficult for all of us here to gain a true appreciation for who he is and what he does \u2026 he\u2019s one of those glass eaters. I mean, he\u2019s going to run through a wall for his teammates, for his coaches, for this organization when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n So when Rodriguez made his presence felt with a jarring hit on the first day of pads in training camp, Coen wasn\u2019t surprised. \u201cHe did kind of what you think he\u2019s going to do in a way, right?\u201d<\/p>\n Because he has familiarity with the playbook, Jacksonville can slow-play Rodriguez\u2019s return to action as he recovers from an offseason foot procedure<\/a>. Coen said the offense is \u201crunning a lot of the concepts\u201d that he used at Kentucky back in 2021. \u201cThere\u2019s so much that we\u2019re doing that may be different verbiage from what it was then, but very similar conceptually. So, I\u2019m not worried about him at all, from is he going to be ready mentally to go when we hit training camp? Not worried about him. Not one bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, Rodriguez has gradually ramped up throughout the past few weeks of practices. He appears on pace to be full-go for the season opener.<\/p>\n So\u2026 why is this really a discussion?<\/p>\n The Jaguars have their new RB1, don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n Enter Bhayshul Tuten, who rushed for -18 yards over expected last season. His 3.7 average yards per carry ranked eighth-worst among 55 running backs.<\/p>\n It was not a hot start for the rookie running back \u2014 but that\u2019s the thing, isn\u2019t it? He was just a rookie.<\/p>\n There is certainly room for growth. We can feel confident about what eight-year SEC\/NFL vet Rodriguez brings to an offense, but Tuten jumped from the CAA to the ACC to the NFL in consecutive seasons. He can\u2019t possibly be done developing.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at what Tut\u2019 showed in terms of getting downhill on it inside the tackles that really wasn\u2019t on his tape in college,\u201d Coen said in the spring. \u201cI think we can do a better job of giving him some opportunities, a little bit more, that fit his skillset as well in college, get him going in some of those instances, as well in the pass game, in the screen game. \u2026 Year two, let\u2019s go be more creative. Now you learned ball security at a premium, what we\u2019re looking for, the standard. Now let\u2019s go take it to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to imagine what that \u201cnext level\u201d looks like. As Coen mentioned, Tuten did a decent amount of dirty work between the tackles; he actually emerged as the top short-yardage back midway through the season. With Rodriguez being a natural candidate to fill that role, perhaps Tuten can seize more of the perimeter looks that used to go to Etienne.<\/p>\n Providing lightning to a backfield sure seems like something he\u2019d be good at.<\/p>\n Anyone who scouted Tuten\u2019s college tape probably wrote \u201cgreat in space\u201d about a billion times. His 4.32-second 40-yard dash tied De\u2019Von Achane for the fourth-fastest in NFL Combine history among running backs. So now that the Jaguars have waved goodbye to Etienne and hello to Rodriguez, there\u2019s an opportunity for Tuten to step into a more suitable role.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll get the designer touches, Rodriguez will do the gritty running, and LeQuint Allen Jr. will continue to be the go-to pass protector on third downs.<\/p>\n The Jaguars don\u2019t have a true RB1; they have a well-balanced committee.<\/p>\n I understand that talk is cheap at this point in the NFL calendar. Coen is candid in front of a mic compared to most NFL coaches, but we shouldn\u2019t take anyone\u2019s word for gospel. Change comes quickly in this league.<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s hard not to come away from Jaguars practices without the feeling that there\u2019s a gap at the top of the backfield.<\/p>\n Coen was asked about his top two backs after the Jaguars and Saints held a joint practice on August 17. He said of Rodriguez, \u201cI think he had a couple nice downhill runs today that you like to see. I thought he had a nice pickup and blitz protection as well today. It\u2019s day by day. He\u2019s getting better and better. I\u2019ve been pleased with his progress.\u201d<\/p>\n He said of Tuten: \u201cYeah, I mean, the [40-yard dash] jumps out at you, right? From the Combine. He can run, he\u2019s strong; he can run through contact. Right now, we just got to continue to work on his tracks, reading his keys, and just go play. Like, not overthinking where the ball maybe should go or could go, and just stick your foot in the ground and get north because when he does that, and he gets his shoulders square and downhill, it can be impressive. He can really run through arm tackles. I mean, arguably maybe a touchdown today on the screen, which was great to see, an area which we need to continue to improve on. So, I\u2019ve been pleased with him, but we\u2019ve got to take another step.\u201d<\/p>\n Regardless of what occurs over the next month of training camp, joint practices, and preseason games, Rodriguez and Tuten will look to prove themselves on the field and earn extra opportunities. Rodriguez can earn ops by showing he has the full trust of his coaches and teammates; Tuten can earn ops by showing he has the legit talent to take over a backfield. Which will prevail?<\/p>\n As a still-developing player with clear athletic upside, Tuten has a wide range of outcomes. He could be Etienne-like (dangerous in the open field, less effective on dirty runs) or maybe even Achane-like (a bona fide superstar). But that\u2019s a heckuva lot to live up to for someone who had 386 total yards in his first pro season. Tuten might be a gadget player who\u2019s mostly just asked to outrun defenders.<\/p>\n To project him as a productive lead rusher is to project him as a player he\u2019s not yet proven to be. Are we really expecting Tuten to grow into an above-average rusher overnight? Because he has wheels and the Jags have an alleged hole in their starting lineup?<\/p>\n The public seems to think that Tuten is the top dog over Rodriguez in Jacksonville. Though betting odds for rushing totals have yet to be released by major sportsbooks, there is a major discrepancy in their fantasy football Average Draft Position (ADP): Tuten is ranked as the consensus<\/a> RB25 while Rodriguez is down at RB45. ESPN analyst Mike Clay, long respected for his NFL projections, forecasts<\/a> a rushing line of 237\/994\/7 for Tuten and 101\/432\/3 for Rodriguez.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to be swayed by the hope of a breakout season, but we\u2019re not in a galaxy far, far away. This is the National Football League. A business with a \u201cwhat have you done for me lately\u201d mentality.<\/p>\n Personally, I\u2019m expecting more from the guy with better historical rushing success and a previous relationship with the head coach\/playcaller than the guy who is seemingly discussed more as the player he could be someday than the player he is now.<\/p>\n
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