Big Cat Country
The Jaguars have a wealth of talent in the running back room and all four can contribute right away.
For the second installment of the state of the roster overview, we turn our attention to the Jacksonville Jaguars' running backs.
After examining the least controversial position group on the team, the quarterbacks, we now take a dive into the stable of running backs this Jags team possesses behind those aforementioned signal callers. Two returners will be the featured pairing, with two rookies right behind them looking to enhance the offense and special teams in a number of ways.
Much akin to the quarterback grouping, this position group isn’t likely to change, especially after the departure of Keilan Robinson after just one season. Even with the emergence of Tank Bigsby in Year 2, though, assumedly the Jags will start the season with Travis Etienne Jr. as the team’s feature back.
Travis Etienne Jr.
Contract: 4th year of a 4-year, $12,898,105 contract. Post June 1 designations: Dead Cap of $6,143,000 if released. Owed $0 is traded. 25th highest paid running back.
Age: 26 (27 in January).
Games Played: 49 games over 4 seasons (Missed entire rookie year).
Stats: 2,691 career rushing yards, 18 rushing TDs. 1,046 receiving yards, 1 TD.
Notes:
After a down year last season, Etienne enters 2025-26 in an awkward spot. He isn’t owed any money after this season, and it will be up to Etienne to alter that. Etienne’s in-between status could potentially mean more carries for Bigsby, who emerged as a solid back in his second year after a disastrous rookie season. But with no draft day trades of Etienne, it looks like the Jags will let him ride out his fifth year in a bit of a prove-it scenario.
Head coach Liam Coen has said that Etienne has “done a great job” so far in practice and has had Etienne running with the first team. It’s hard to tell how much of last season was due to bad injury luck with the former first-round pick, bad scheme, and an overall bad team.
Maybe Etienne still has plenty of juice left in the tank, returning to the form he had when he rushed for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. Or maybe Etienne has hit his newer generation running back ceiling, where RBs just aren’t needed to last as long as they used to. Etienne will have to play well this upcoming year to continue as a Jag, or even as an RB1 for another team. He clearly has the talent. Now is the time to make it count.
Tank Bigsby
Contract: 3rd year of 4 4-year, $5,392,915 rookie contract.
Age: 23 (24 in August).
Games Played: 33 over 2 seasons.
Stats: 766 rushing yards in Year 2, 7 rushing touchdowns. 10 career kick returns.
Notes:
The guy at the heels of Etienne is the former third-round pick, Bigsby. His rookie year was bad, but his sophomore year showed why many think he can be a higher-upside back...
