Etienne's departure leaves a massive void. Will an RB1 emerge in the backfield from the Jacksonville Jaguars' committee approach?
The Jacksonville Jaguars' running back room is going to look different in 2026, and general manager James Gladstone last week reaffirmed the team's commitment to a by-committee approach in the backfield.
Talking with co-hosts J.P. Shadrick and Mark Duffner of the team's "Jags Happy Hour" podcast on Thursday, Gladstone said Jacksonville's offense for next season will continue building on running multiple ball-carriers out of the backfield.
"Really excited for the guys that were behind (Etienne) this past season and being able to get increased (opportunities) Gladstone said. “And you know two rookie runners who really had significant contributions in different ways, and can carry those contributions forward and build off of those.
Last season, Travis Etienne Jr. was the Jags' primary running back, ending the year with 1,107 yards rushing and seven touchdowns while averaging 4.3 yards per carry.
Etienne was also effective in the receiving game, ending the year with 292 yards and six touchdowns.
But Etienne is no longer a part of the picture, having signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the New Orleans Saints. So now, the Jags will have a new leading rusher, and it's not yet clear who that will be. In an era where more teams are relying on two running backs, Etienne was Jacksonville's clear bell cow.
He ended 2025 with 260 carries, which was 177 more than the next highest on the team (Bhayshul Tuten).
Etienne also had exactly 800 more yards than Tuten, who ended the year with 3.7 yards per carry, although Tuten proved to be quite effective near the goalline, scoring five touchdowns (he added two more receiving TD).
The one time the Jags gave Tuten double-digit carries, he proved up to the task, rushing for 74 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in a 35-6 win over the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers.
Had the Jags not signed any free agents, the Jags would be expected to go into 2026 with Tuten as RB1 and LeQuint Allen as his backup. A seventh-round draft choice from Syracuse in 2025, Allen got 23 carries with the Jags last season, gaining 94 yards.
Then, there's Chris Rodriguez Jr.
“You insert Chris, who obviously has prior experience with Liam, which is going to be helpful to the onboarding process, a lot of the same language, you know, an understood skill set,” Gladstone said.
The Washington Commanders took Rodriguez in the sixth round of the 2023 draft, and he's played above his draft slot.
This past season, despite missing four games, Rodriguez ran for 500 yards, adding six touchdowns and averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Had Rodriguez replicated these numbers in Jacksonville last season, he would have been the team's clear RB2 behind Etienne, and given what the team has invested in him as a free agent (two years), it's quite possible that he'd have a slight edge coming in.
As Gladstone pointed out, Rodriguez has worked with Jags HC/offensive play caller Liam Coen before. Coen was Rodriguez’s offensive coordinator in 2021 at Kentucky.
None of these three has ever been a top running back, and with the league shifting more toward a "by committee" approach (the Super Bowl champion Seahawks being one example), it's likely that the Jags will go with that approach, at least until one separates himself.
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