Ogunbowale Primed For Larger Role in a Jaguars' Offense Missing Etienne
Jacksonville Jaguars running back Dare Ogunbowale has always been on the peripheral. There, but lost in the unforgiving shuffle that spins football players from one practice squad to another, allowing for respites on special teams and a rare start that’s never forgotten. But this season, Ogunbowale could find himself a part of a committee that will need his input.
After the Jaguars first round pick, running back Travis Etienne, suffered a season ending injury in the second preseason game, the Jags were suddenly down a pass-catching back. More so, they were down a pass-catching back in an offense that was being built around one. Because while Jacksonville has stud James Robinson to line up as RB1, and veteran Carlos Hyde to supplement the ground game, Head Coach Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell were depending on the versatility that Etienne could bring to the game.
“That’s definitely devastating for Travis [Etienne Jr.]. I mean, he’s like a little bro, so [I] wanted him to have a good first year,” expressed Ogunbowale on Thursday. “But you don’t doubt that he will bounce back and he’s going to work hard in rehab and stuff like that to get back out there. We just have to have his back. He had a nice role in the offense, so now all the rest of us just kind of have to, as a community, as a committee, kind of pick up the slack on what we’re going to miss him [for].”
Now Ogunbowale knows he has an opportunity to help fill that role, as Head Coach Urban Meyer explained Wednesday.
“The running back depth, that position we all know, that’s a violent position, so a guy like Dare [Ogunbowale] becomes more and more valuable."
Related: What Travis Etienne's Injury Means For the Jaguars' Offense
“It’s fun, man. It’s a fun offense,” said Ogunbowale of the scheme he could see more and more of soon. “[Offensive Coordinator] Coach [Darrell] Bevell, he has some real, real interesting ways to get running backs the ball for sure. Me, as a good route runner, I’m excited to be able to show that. Then all of the running backs, we kind of have different skill sets so Coach Bevell wants to get the ball in our hands in a lot of different ways. It’s exciting.”
Through most of his four years in the league, the Wisconsin alum has bounced from practice squads to active rosters as a special teamer, and then back again. In 2019, the former undrafted free agent played in all 16 games for the first time in his career, and recorded his first career rushing stats with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He was signed by the Jaguars ahead of the 2020 season, and finished the season tied for a team high, nine special teams tackles. More importantly for him though, he finally saw significant action at running back, starting the final two games of the season after James Robinson was injured. In total, he accumulated 145 yard on 32 carries and an additional 54 yards on 10 receptions.
With Robinson injured, Ogunbowale (33) started the final two games of the 2020 season, the first starts of his career. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
“I’ve always been tagged kind of as a special teamer, so it was nice to be able to kind of start at running back and get a chance to put some good runs together, put some good plays on film in the offense. I think that’s definitely what I showed, kind of just adding to my versatility, showing what I’ve worked at throughout my career just becoming a better runner. I feel like I was able to show that those last couple of games.”
That versatility, as mentioned, is what makes Ogunbowale an interesting prospect to fill in the gap left by Etienne’s injury. The extent of that role though is not yet fully known to the public. Like his head coach and OC, Ogunbowale teases there is more to this offense than has been seen in the two preseason losses. The playbook has been opened, says the back, but only to an extent.
“In practice, but we haven’t showed y’all too much yet though.”
If that’s the case, Ogunbowale’s full potential within this system is still a mystery. But for that matter, much of his NFL career has been that way, only getting small moments to show what he can bring to a team, doing his best to make the most of each. Ahead of this season, with this offense and now this opportunity to fill shoes, Ogunbowale is taking advantage of those around him who have found success, hoping to do the same.
“Having a guy like Los [RB Carlos Hyde] who’s been in the league for a while and then a young guy like James [Robinson] who just obviously came on the scene as a special player. Everybody’s trying to learn from each other. Everybody has a different skill,” explains Ogunbowale. “Obviously, there’re some skill sets that overlap, but for the most part, everybody’s kind of a different back in the room. Everybody is trying to learn, like I’m definitely getting nuances from Los on what he sees. James obviously, boy knows how to run, so I’m always trying to pick up something from him in that role.
“It’s definitely great and having a coach like [Running Backs Coach] Bernie [Parmalee], everybody is asking Bernie a lot of questions because he played in the league for nine years too. It’s a special situation where you can just kind of ask questions for your teammates and your coach and get real good answers.”
The Jaguars last preseason game is this coming Sunday, versus the Dallas Cowboys. The following Tuesday is one of the more painful days in the NFL each year; teams must cut-down their rosters from 80 players to 53 total. It’s a day that has chewed up and spit out Ogunbowale in the past. This year though, he can use Sunday as a last audition with a chance to make it through that day, showing coaches he can step in for Travis Etienne and receive his biggest responsibility yet. He’s not thinking about it though. He’s going to just play.
Ponders Ogunbowale, “It is a stressful time. A lot of guys’ futures, careers are at stake. But at the end of the day, we’ve been playing this game for a long time, so I just remind guys just to have fun. You play your best when you play free.”
