All offseason, the Jacksonville Jaguars were relentlessly criticized for not doing more to replace running back Travis Etienne, who left in free agency after rushing for over 1,100 yards and scoring 13 total touchdowns last season. 

Instead of signing an expensive free agent or using a high draft pick on a RB, the Jaguars only brought in Chris Rodriguez Jr. on a modest two-year deal to compete with second-year back Bhayshul Tuten, who spent his rookie season as Etienne’s backup, to be the team’s top running back. 

An early offseason injury to Rodriguez allowed Tuten to seize the job and never look back. 

So far, so good. Tuten has excelled in his first four games as Jacksonville’s RB1, and has made everyone who doubted his ability to handle the job look foolish. 

Tuten has rushed for 277 yards on 60 carries (4.6 YPC) and has scored a pair of touchdowns. He has added 7 catches for 54 yards and has been a major component of the team’s 3-1 start. 

The 23-year-old has game-breaking speed and has proven that Jacksonville’s backfield is in very good hands. 

Tuten’s performance has been so good that he is PFF’s second-highest-graded RB through four games. 

His overall grade of 90.3 trails only Kenneth Walker III of the Kansas City Chiefs, who has earned a 90.8 overall grade. 

Tuten’s rush grade of 89.1 is best in the league. 

Through four games, Tuten has been a pillar of consistency for the Jaguars’ offense. In the season-opening win over the Cleveland Browns, Tuten had 15 carries for 66 yards and followed with 13 carries for 65 yards against Denver, before back-to-back 73-yard performances on 15 and 17 rushes. 

Tuten has been terrific and hasn’t even broken off a run of longer than 20 yards yet. He did have a 44-yard TD scamper called back by a penalty in Week 4’s victory over Cincinnati, one of Tuten's two scores that were wiped out by a flag on the day. 

He reached at least 15 MPH on seven different runs in each of the two games against Cleveland and Cincinnati. No other running back has seven runs of 15 MPH in even one game. 

Tuten has rewarded the Jaguars for their faith in him as the club’s top running back. He has been better than even his biggest believers could have reasonably expected. 

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports spoke about Tuten’s star potential earlier in the offseason, and the Virginia Tech product has proven him right. 

As for all those who thought Tuten didn’t have what it takes to lead a backfield, and that Jacksonville’s offense would be held back with him as RB1, they couldn’t have been more wrong. 

Tuten will face the Philadelphia Eagles’ run defense next, which is only 23rd in the league, giving up 122 yards per game. Week 5 is the first of the Jaguars' consecutive “home” games in London.