ClutchPoints
Three years after beginning his professional career, Travis Etienne Jr. faces the most challenging stretch of his career. As the Jacksonville Jaguars transition into a new era in the 2025 offseason, the running back suddenly finds himself as a top trade candidate with training camp on the horizon.
While Etienne is still on his rookie deal, he celebrated his 26th birthday in January. Though still atop the Jaguars’ depth chart, he is easily the oldest member of the backfield, particularly with rookies Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen Jr. joining the room.
However, the biggest issue with Etienne is not his age. After bursting onto the scene and looking like a future superstar as a rookie, his production and efficiency have taken a nosedive. Etienne’s total rushing production and yards per carry have declined each year since his rookie season, reaching an all-time low in 2024.
After rushing for 1,125 in 2022, Etienne still topped 1,000 yards in year two, but did so on a putrid 3.8 yards per carry. Yet, he managed to hold off rookie Tank Bigsby to keep a firm grasp on the starting role, while notching a career-high 11 touchdowns.
Unfortunately, there were few positives to take away from Etienne’s 2024 campaign. Despite missing just two games, Etienne fielded just 150 carries, over 100 fewer than he did in 2023. He posted an even worse 3.7 yards per attempt, resulting in a career-low 558 rushing yards. Etienne ended the year with 18 fewer carries and 208 fewer rushing yards than Bigsby, marking the first time in his career he was not the Jaguars’ leading rusher.
Now at the lowest point of his career, Etienne has quickly fallen from a premier workhorse back to in danger of falling entirely out of the rotation. The Jaguars could look to move him before their 2025 offseason training camp begins to maximize his waning value.
Since taking over the backfield as a rookie, Etienne has still started every game he has been healthy enough to play. However, with Bigsby’s second-year leap making him look like the far more effective runner, his grip on that role is much less secure than it was a year ago.
Etienne still took the majority of the backfield snaps, but his portion was much more even with Bigsby in 2024. After commanding a 73 percent offensive snap share in 2023, Etienne took just 47 percent in 2024. In turn, Bigsby’s playing time rose from 12 percent as a rookie to 34 percent in 2024.
The two lead backs were already trending in opposite directions, but everything changed in the 2025 offseason. The Jaguars fired Doug Pederson and replaced him with the offensive-minded Liam Coen, who has already made an impact on the backfield. Shortly after hiring Coen, Jacksonville added Tuten and Allen in the draft to set up an intriguing positional battle in training camp.
While Allen is on the roster bubble as a seventh-round pick, Tuten enters...
