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Is Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby, Bhayshul Tuten the Jaguars starting running back? Should I draft Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby, Bhayshul Tuten for fantasy football drafts?
Despite the fragility of the position, running backs have long been a staple of many championship fantasy football teams. The position carries huge upside, and this leads to many gamers chasing that legendary production early in their drafts. However, some gamers prefer to avoid the position early in drafts and, instead, select high-upside backs in the late rounds.
There are a plethora of these types of backs available to fantasy managers this year. The Jacksonville Jaguars trio of Travis Etienne Jr., Tank Bigsby, and Bhayshul Tuten are among those available in the latter half of drafts. This backfield is of particular interest due to the presence of new Jaguars head coach Liam Coen. Serving as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator last year, Coen drastically improved the team’s rushing attack, and we saw Bucky Irving emerge as a fantasy star under his watch. Given the impact Coen had on Tampa Bay’s running game last year, it stands to reason that we might see Jacksonville's rushing attack take a similar leap forward. That means figuring out who to draft from this backfield could be the key to winning your league.
So, should gamers draft Etienne, Bigsby, or Tuten? Let’s dive in and find out exactly how fantasy gamers should approach this backfield in their 2025 fantasy football draft.
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Travis Etienne 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook
Etienne is fresh off the worst season of his career in 2024. He posted career lows in rushing yards, yards per carry, touchdowns, and yards per reception. It all culminated with Etienne finishing the year as the PPR RB35, and he wound up being one of the biggest busts of the 2024 season.
People who defend Etienne’s 2024 are quick to point out that a hamstring injury he suffered in Week 6 severely hampered his play. Let's take a look and see just how viable that argument is. Here are Etienne’s stats before and after picking up said hamstring injury:
Pre-hamstring injury (Weeks 1-6)
56 attempts, 230 rushing yards, 4.1 yards per carry, two rushing touchdowns
Post-hamstring injury (Weeks 9-18, Etienne missed two weeks recovering)
328 rushing yards, 3.5 yards per carry, zero rushing touchdowns
Ok, so we saw a slight decrease in production, but nothing drastically different. Let’s keep pushing, though, and examine some of his advanced metrics pre- and post-injury:
Pre-hamstring injury (Weeks 1-6)
56th in PFF rushing grade
63rd in PFF elusive rating
57th in PFF’s yards after contact per attempt
50th in Fantasy Points Data Suite’s explosive run rate
Post-hamstring injury (Weeks 9-18)
79th in PFF rushing grade
86th in PFF elusive rating
89th in yards after contact per attempt
42nd in explosive run rate
Most of these metrics decreased after Etienne returned. Interestingly enough, his explosive run rate improved after his hamstring injury. This suggests that maybe the hamstring wasn’t a problem, and Etienne was just flat-out bad last year.
For the sake of conversation, though, let’s say that Etienne’s injury did impact his performance and is the reason why most of his advanced metrics and traditional stats declined after he returned.
While that might be true, it’s not exactly like he was lighting the world on fire before he was injured. Look at his finishes again. 56th in rushing grade, 63rd in elusive rating, 57th in yards after contact per attempt, 50th in explosive run rate, and 4.1 yards per carry. None of these scores is very good.
To say that Etienne’s hamstring injury affected his 2024 performance is like saying the Arby’s sandwich you had for lunch was way better before you dropped it in the toilet. Yes, that’s probably true, but it’s not like it was ever good in the first place.
Now, Etienne does have a top-3 finish at the position to his name back in 2023. However, he also hasn’t been a good rusher for two straight years now. Etienne has averaged less than 3.9 yards per carry each of the last two seasons. He was also outproduced by Bigsby as a rusher last year.
Etienne may have a resurgence if Coen can work his magic on this backfield. However, the new regime may have found its preferred back of the future in Tuten, and there's no guarantee Etienne will even receive the necessary volume to ensure another RB1 finish.
All of this suggests that while an Etienne bounce-back is possible, it may not be the most likely outcome from the Jacksonville backfield this year.
Tank Bigsby 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook
Bigsby is coming off a career year in 2024. After struggling mightily in his rookie year, Bigsby ran for a career-best 766 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, and averaged 4.56 yards per carry. He thoroughly outperformed Etienne in all of these categories.
These weren’t the only areas where Bigsby bested Etienne. He finished higher than Etienne in Next Gen Stats' rush yards over expected, PFF elusive rating, PFF rushing grade, yards after contact per attempt, and explosive run rate.
No matter how you slice it, Bigsby was the best running back on the Jaguars last year.
TANK BIGSBY STIFF ARMS HIS WAY TO A 65-YARD TD.
📺: #INDvsJAX on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/oVugPI0X5s— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024
It was a remarkable improvement for Bigsby after a disastrous rookie season in 2023. However, as we previously mentioned, there is an entirely new regime in Jacksonville this year. This staff has zero ties to any of the incumbents on the roster. That could mean good or bad news for Bigsby.
Either way, if he keeps the momentum rolling and continues to produce as a rusher, then Bigsby could emerge as the team’s RB1. If that’s the case, then Bigsby would be a fantastic value later in drafts.
Bhayshul Tuten 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook
Jacksonville selected Tuten in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He is a powerful back, but is also capable of making a house call anytime he touches the ball.
BHAYSHUL TUTEN DID NOT GIVE UP ON THE PLAY 😤
He powers his way in for the TD
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/sQ5iIMUSLh
— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2025
Bhayshul Tuten is a box checker ✅
➖4.32 40-yard dash (100th percentile)
➖118.3 Speed Score (98th)
➖133.9 Burst Score (97th)
➖38.3% Dominator Rating (90th)
➖6.4 yards per carry (84th)
➖24 Bench Press (82nd)Is he worth an early 2nd round pick in rookie drafts?🤔 pic.twitter.com/A20UiVoBya
— PlayerProfiler (@rotounderworld) May 6, 2025
Tuten ran for 1,159 yards and scored 15 rushing touchdowns in 11 games last year at Virginia Tech. He also averaged a robust 6.3 yards per carry. Tuten’s advanced metrics in 2024 were also quite good. Among 156 collegiate backs with 100+ carries, Tuten finished:
T-14th in PFF’s missed tackles forced
16th in PFF’s yards after contact
Seventh in PFF’s yards after contact per attempt
Eighth in PFF elusive rating
11th in PFF explosive run rate
These are fantastic scores and are exactly what you want to see from a rookie entering the league.
A few things are working against Tuten for immediate playing time this year. He had trouble holding onto the football in college. Fumbles are not necessarily a death nail to a running back’s career, but they can become a major issue if not corrected. Unfortunately for Tuten, that issue reared its ugly head early this offseason.
#Jaguars HC Liam Coen on how Bhayshul Tuten is looking:
“He put the ball on the ground today, that kinda stands out… Good learning experience, first time in a live setting in the National Football League on your first carry — hopefully you learn something from that moment.” pic.twitter.com/6nlwWz1kZo
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) May 19, 2025
Hopefully, Tuten learned from this experience and has improved his ball security. Tuten also struggles in pass protection, and this could keep him off the field on third downs and in passing situations. He also did not have much production as a receiver in college, and that could hurt his upside in PPR leagues. However, it’s worth pointing out that just because a back did not catch passes in college, it doesn't necessarily mean he is incapable of doing so.
There are certainly areas where Tuten needs to improve, but there is a lot to like about his game. Jacksonville’s new general manager, James Gladstone, is certainly quite bullish on Tuten’s outlook. During his interviews for the Jaguars' open general manager position, Gladstone specifically mentioned Tuten as a potential draft-day target.
James Gladstone presented Bhayshul Tuten's name as a priority target on Day 3 during his two interviews with the Jaguars to become their GM pic.twitter.com/08PYmloWYU
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) April 26, 2025
There is a good chance that Tuten emerges as the team’s RB1 as the season progresses. He is arguably the best running back on the team, and the new Jacksonville regime likes his skill set. That makes Tuten a great draft and hold candidate who gamers should select toward the tail end of their drafts.
Who Should You Draft in 2025 Fantasy Football?
There is a lot of uncertainty in this backfield entering Week 1. Etienne started Jacksonville's first preseason game, then Bigsby started the second. There have also been reports about Tuten mixing in with the first team in practice. Just when we feel like we start to get some clarity, Coen switches things up, or we get a new report that makes us question what we thought we knew.
At this time, the one thing that does seem certain is that we don’t have any clue how this backfield is going to shake out. Maybe the Jaguars don’t, either.
If that’s the case, then the most pragmatic thing to do is analyze each player’s FFPC ADP and make a call from there:
Etienne: 96.29 overall
Bigsby: 199.69 overall
Tuten: 130.27 overall
If we’re going strictly by ADP, we can eliminate drafting Etienne, as he is the most expensive of the three. That means Bigsby and Tuten are the ways to play this backfield.
Whichever way this backfield shakes out, odds are good we will get a fantasy-relevant player. So shoot your shot and make sure you take at least one of these players in your draft.
Who Should I Draft Tool
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