As the Jacksonville Jaguars get set to open training camp next week, the running back room will be one to keep an eye on.
The Jags lost Travis Etienne, who accounted for roughly 70% of the running back carries last season, to the New Orleans Saints in free agency. In his stead, second-year running back Bhayshul Tuten is expected to see a significant uptick in totes. The Jags inked Chris Rodriguez Jr. in free agency and also have a bigger back, LeQuint Allen.
The question entering camp is how the carries might shake out heading into the season. With Rodriguez nursing an injury this offseason, we have yet to see any reliable indicator. However, in the void, Tuten has received praise from the coaching staff.
During an interview on "" podcast, coach Liam Coen glowed about Tuten's upside.
"Yeah, Tuten I thought had a really good spring. You know, year one coming from Virginia Tech, and really was North Carolina Central to Virginia Tech, and man, so he had a little bit of a learning curve too, with the protections and a lot of the things that come with playing running back as a rookie," Coen said, "You look at the playoff game against Buffalo. You look at some of the other games down in the red zone. He does a great job of finding the end zone, he does, and his yards after contact and rushing yards, man. When he can get going and get downhill, I mean, he was 4.28 coming out. So he can fly."
Tuten generated 307 yards on 83 carries with five touchdowns last season. He added 10 catches for 79 yards and two TDs. In the playoff game Coen noted, the RB saw just four carries but went for 51 yards, including three consecutive gashes of 20,14 and 13 yards to help set up an early touchdown.
As with most rookie RBs, there were learning curves for Tuten, who also had some preseason fumbling concerns (fumbled twice in the regular season, losing one). However, the speed combined with a short-yardage ability gives Tuten a combination that could give him a chance to be the clear-cut No. 1 RB.
Coen has seen improvement from the running back from Year 1 to Year 2.
"Now it's more so, he was so conscientious about ball security last year and doing right," Coen said. "OK now, Tuten, you got it. You understand it more. Now just go be you, like go do what got you here. Go be special, that's who you are. And we're definitely expecting Tuten to have a big year for us."
The signing of Rodriguez, who spent one year with Coen at Kentucky, suggests it will be a shared backfield. But Tuten's upside is greater than the rest of the crew. The second-year back will get the chance to prove he deserves the carries come Week 1.
If he meets Coen's expectations, Tuten's totes could soar even higher as the season progresses.
