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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars’ running back room includes two 1,000-yard rushers and one of the most dynamic playmakers in college football over the past four seasons. Figuring out how to distribute touches among James Robinson, Carlos Hyde and Travis Etienne Jr. may take a while, but that’s an equation offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell doesn’t mind trying to solve. More options are always better. “That’s what we need [running back depth],” Bevell said. “You know, I feel like this game is built that way. I know Coach [Urban] Meyer believes that -- that you run the ball first and that we want to able to kind of exert our will on the opponent. It helps us do other things in the pass game and get big plays in the pass game -- those kinds of things are what we’re looking to do. “To have a number of backs back there — I think there are a lot of guys that are looking really good and it’s just better for us.”
Robinson was just the fourth undrafted player to rush for 1,000 yards as a rookie. He had 1,070 and seven touchdowns to go along with 49 catches for 344 yards and three TDs in 2020. The Jaguars signed Hyde, who played for Meyer at Ohio State and ran for 1,070 yards for Houston in 2019, in free agency. Both are good between-the-tackles runners and solid pass-catchers, and they’ve shown they can handle a heavy workload. The Jaguars’ drafted Etienne 25th overall with the plan to use him the way Meyer used Percy Harvin at Florida: line him up in the backfield, in the slot and out wide and try to create mismatches and get him in space. Harvin ran for 1,852 yards with 19 touchdowns and caught 133 passes for 1,929 yards with 13 touchdowns in three seasons for the Gators, and he also was a first-round pick (22nd by Minnesota in 2009). Etienne is the ACC’s all-time leading rusher (4,952), so he certainly can be used as a traditional back, but what the Jaguars need him to do is deliver big plays. They were woefully short of them in 2020: Last in the NFL in combined rushes of 20 or more yards and pass plays of 30 or more yards, per ESPN Stats & Info. They had 16, which was 33 fewer than the league-leading Baltimore Ravens. Robinson has the most to lose when it comes to distributing touches between those three -- and potentially another back among Dare Ogunbowale, Devine Ozigbo and Nathan Cottrell -- because their additions likely mean he’ll have a tough time matching his 289 touches in 2020. Not that he cares. “I always think about the competitiveness, but when I’m out here and it’s my turn to go, I’m always going to try to play and get what I can,” he said. “They always talk about having fresh players coming out, and I know once the season comes, having those fresh players is going to help out a lot. I mean, a big play happens, you get a couple more and then come out, and then go back in, and you can have another big play just by having fresh legs, so I think that’s going to help out a lot.” Etienne will certainly get carries because the Jaguars can’t only bring him on the field as a pass-catcher, but he did spend rookie minicamp working exclusively at receiver. He admitted he struggled a bit there, but said he’s much more comfortable now after OTAs and minicamp. He has been impressive while working as a traditional running back in camp. “Everyone has this conception that I’m a receiver, but I’m actually a running back who’s able to go and spread wide and be able to run routes like a receiver,” Etienne said. “I feel like just me working on the totality of my whole game is going to help me be much better in the future and be able to go out there and make plays and really just adding value. I’m adding value to the team, not hurting the team by just being a runner.” Meyer has said he wants to be among the league leaders in rushing, so there’ll be plenty of work for Robinson, Hyde and Etienne, as long as the defense can keep games close and the Jaguars don’t have to abandon the run. Sharing the workload isn’t a bad thing, Etienne said. It’s beneficial. “If we can go out there and just create that rotation, then we’re definitely going to have a longer career,” Etienne said. “We’re definitely mindful of that and definitely want to help each other be the best that we can be.”
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