The Jaguars' Most Interesting Position Group

The Jacksonville Jaguars have certainly created high expectations for their offense in 2025.

The hiring of head coach Liam Coen to develop Trevor Lawrence and the blockbuster move to trade up for Travis Hunter are the biggest reasons for optimism and excitement, but they are not the only ones.

As the Jaguars' Week 2 preseason game against the New Orleans Saints marched on, it became clearer and clearer each drive that the Jaguars' running back room has become one of those reasons.

Running Backs Stand Out

Aug 17, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) leaps to avoid the tackle of New Orleans Saints defensive end Chris Rumph II (98) during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Jaguars went with a different plan at running back in Week 2 than the previous week. The first-team offense played two drives as opposed to the one the week before vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the roles varied as well.

Tank Bigsby got the start at running back, playing the first two snaps. Then on a clear passing situation on first down, Travis Etienne entered the game. This pattern repeated on the next set of downs. Bigsby was then on the field on the next three downs, giving him seven of the first nine snaps but neither of the third-down snaps.

On the next drive, Etienne won the snap share 6-2.

This could be a potential way the Jaguars hope to showcase their running backs; Bigsby gets a lot of early down work. Etienne is the major factor in the passing game, LeQuint Allen gets pass-protection snaps, and Bhayshul Tuten gets sprinkled in now and then.

"We had a good conversation, about a week ago or so and just continuing to relay, man. You have a skill set that we really enjoy in terms of the way that you play the game, you play your tail off, you run hard as heck. I continue to believe that he'll be better in games even than practice where you don't get a full feel of if people can tackle him," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said two days before the Saints game.

"Like, arm tackles out here when you tag off, like, that's not a tackle on him sometimes. So, I thought he had a good day yesterday. Needs to continue to take the right steps when it comes to his progression in blitz [pick up] and understanding what those reads are and not getting out too quick, and having that protection mindset so that when he's in, there's no there's nothing we can't do. So that we don't come become, you know, predictable in some ways.”

tute — Aug 17, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten (33) runs against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

There is the question of whether to trust the Week 2 usage more than Week 1, when Etienne got all 11 of the first-team snaps.

But however you slice it, the Jaguars' running back room has become one that can win in a variety of ways. Where one running back may not be as strong, there are others in the room who match their skill set.

“I would say yeah. I would say yeah, butI feel like this kind of reminds me of my first year, but not really because we’ve got more depth. Instead of two guys, it’s four or five of us and we’re all really good backs," Etienne said last week.

"We’ve just got to continue to keep taking the coaching, keep getting better each and everyday. As long as, like I said, we stay coachable, the sky is the limit for all of us.”

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