NFL Draft: Takeaways on Jaguars' Selection of Clemson RB Travis Etienne
It was a Clemson Tigers reunion for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night. 24 picks after the Jaguars took quarterback Trevor Lawrence No. 1 overall to be their new franchise passer, they took Clemson running back Travis Etienne at No. 25 to support their signal-caller.
What does the addition of Etienne at No. 33 mean for the Jaguars moving forward? Was it the right move, or should the Jaguars have looked elsewhere? We take a look below.
The selection of Etienne wasn't particularly surprising
As we pointed out earlier this offseason, the Jaguars weren't secret about wanting to get more explosive at the running back position. They showed interest in Giovani Bernard a few weeks ago and the only other running back they added this offseason was the veteran, downhill-running Carlos Hyde. Everyone knew the Jaguars were going to add a dynamic athlete at running back in the draft.
“It’s hard to have 14, 15, 16 play drives in the National Football League. You have to be able to flip the field," Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said on Thursday night. "You have to be able to score from every level of the field and the only way you can do that is to add explosive players, and we feel Travis [Etienne] is one of those.”
The reasons that Etienne always seemed like a logical Jaguars target are endless. There is his strong relationship and chemistry with No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence; Etienne's speed; his third-down ability; his long track-record of production; his complementary skill set to James Robinson and Carlos Hyde; and the fact that Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer is close with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and has seen a lot of Clemson film due to their battles with Ohio State in recent years.
"And I know Travis, just from my time at Ohio State and even the last two years, the fact that the Buckeyes have played them—hours upon hours upon hours," Meyer said on Thursday night following the selection of Etienne.
"And the way we’ve always looked at offensive football is that, just over the years, any time you can find that dual threat guy that can carry the ball and catch the ball, obviously the name that comes up is Percy [Harvin] so often. I’m not saying he’s a Percy, we’ll find out. But he’s a guy that’s a piece of the puzzle that is kind of hard to cover, hard to defend.”
The Jaguars sacrificed some value but the board fell the right way to help offset it
The argument of "value" is a subjective one. Just because a player is a running back doesn't mean it is a bad pick in the first round, but context is needed for team needs and other players at the position in the draft class. In this case, taking a running back at No. 25 overall, and then calling him a third-down back, one year after 1-15 has been judged harshly nationally. There are lots of reasons to believe in the vision of the pick -- and the fact Etienne is an extremely talented player shouldn't be lost on anyone -- but a team will always catch flak for making such a selection.
"I don’t know who questions it I guess, if there’s other GM’s that feel the same way, take a back, don’t take a back," Baalke said. "Our job is to take the best football players available and when you have a chance to add an explosive, dynamic player to your team, I don’t think that’s a roll of the dice. I think that’s an educated decision that we were willing to make.”
Could the Jaguars have gotten better "value" with this pick? Sure, but it is hardly a reach of major proportions by the Jaguars, in large part because of how the board fell following pick No. 25. There are still several defensive backs left on the board with starter traits in Trevon Moehrig, Tyson Campbell, Asante Samuel Jr., and others. Plus, players like Teven Jenkins, Javonte Williams, and Azeez Ojulari could be trade-up targets if the Jaguars want to move back from No. 33 and grab more picks.
Would Buffalo had taken Etienne?
Would Etienne had been selected by the Buffalo Bills at No. 30 if the Jaguars didn't take him at No. 25? This is the question that the Jaguars likely had to ponder last night as they were deciding on who to select at No. 25, though it sounds like Etienne would have been the favorite to be the pick regardless listening to how the Jaguars described it. There is no real way of knowing, but the Jaguars wouldn't be foolish to make the assumption that Etienne could be Buffalo's top target. The Bills' own general manager said their roster lacks a home run running back and Etienne had been a popular mock projection to the Bills all offseason.
The Jaguars also saw a running back get selected right before their pick in Najee Harris to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 24 overall. Harris was the first running back selected and in a draft where three running backs had been given first-round hype, it is fair to think a mini-run on the position could have happened after pick No. 25.
The Jaguars have shown they will be supporting Lawrence early in the draft
While it isn't necessary to draft a first-round running back to support your rookie quarterback, a player like Etienne is completely quarterback-friendly (despite his lack of value as a blocker) and is the kind of player the Jaguars should look to surround Lawrence with. The pick may have come at a high price, but the Jaguars at least show the understanding that they couldn't afford to not give Lawrence every possible avenue to succeed, whether with an offensive lineman or a dynamic pass-catcher like Etienne.
"Well, I think if you go back to his college film, I think you see he’s an explosive player, can multi-align, can detach, can come out of the backfield," Baalke said. "So, he offers a tremendous amount of versality in the pass game, as well as that explosive play-making ability that you covet.”
It can be debated all year long whether the Jaguars should have taken a running back at No. 25, especially when they have a good starting running back already on the roster in James Robinson. But the Jaguars' plan is clearly to commit to putting an explosive offensive around Lawrence as opposed to asking him to be a hero week in and week out.
An NFL comparison for Etienne
The most popular high-end comparison for Etienne has been New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara. There are certainly similarities in yards after contact play-style and usage, but Kamara is a rare running back who should be seen as an absolute ceiling for Etienne. Another, perhaps more probable comparison may be Detroit Lions running back D'Andre Swift, a second-round pick by the Detroit Lions last season
Etienne has a few inches on Swift in terms of height, but according to PlayerProfile.com, Etienne and Swift each finished with nearly identical speed and burst scores. Each excels in similar ways on the field as well, with each winning with burst, change of direction, and tackle-breaking. Darrell Bevell implemented Swift into his offense last season so it stands to reason Etienne could play the same role.
