After claiming the AFC South title last season only to lose a heartbreaker to the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs, the Jacksonville Jaguars sustained some major losses in free agency. One of the departing players was Travis Etienne Jr., the team’s leading rusher in three of the last four years, who totaled more than 1,000 yards on the ground during each of those seasons. The thought process was that Jacksonville would select a running back in last April’s draft, specifically Jadarian Price. Yet when Price was out of reach for the team, they decided to lean on their existing depth chart.

The No. 1 back on the Jaguars depth chart is Bhayshul Tuten, a fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft out of Virginia Tech. The 104th selection of the process that year, Tuten did an admirable job backing up Etienne last season, rushing for 307 yards and five TDs. It’s a different story this year, as the Jaguars are expecting big things from the middle-round pick, and Tuten has high expectations for himself.

Graded by scouts as a middle-round pick prior to his senior season of 2024, Tuten slogged through an injury-plagued campaign, dealing with a high-ankle sprain most of the year. Yet despite the injury impeding his play, Tuten still rushed for 1,159 yards and 15 TDs. He also caught 23 passes that year.

He pushed through the predraft process despite the ankle never being 100% and was fantastic. He had a solid Senior Bowl outing, then turned in a tremendous combine performance. Tuten timed 4.32 seconds electronically in the 40 (though some stopwatches clocked him as fast as 4.28 seconds) and hit 40.5 inches in the vertical jump. The fourth round of the draft seemed a bit late for Tuten’s talents, though he was the seventh running back drafted, and all the ball carriers that preceded him carried high grades. The Jaguars targeted Tuten as he started to fall on Day 2 and even considered moving up into the third round to secure his services.

Now, after a rookie year where he successfully played backup to Etienne, Tuten will be relied upon as the feature ball carrier in Jacksonville, as long as he performs.

The Jaguars signed Chris Rodriguez Jr. this offseason to add to the list of available running backs on the roster. And though he’s a different sort of ball carrier, a big and strong grinder on the inside, while Tuten is a breakaway threat who can score from any point on the field, I’m told head coach Liam Coen will go with the hot hand. In other words, there are no guarantees, and the job is Tuten’s to lose; and he expects to RB1 for the team all season long. Tuten has set lofty goals for himself this season and is looking for 1,500 yards rushing with 16 TDs. Even if he comes away with 400 yards fewer on the ground, that will be a huge help for Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars’ offense.

The early signs have been more than promising, as Tuten has looked tremendous in prior OTAs and the early stages of training camp. He’s also catching the ball extremely well, which will be added value for the Jaguars offense.

The franchise hopes Tuten will be the natural replacement for Etienne, who was a first-round pick in 2021. The second-year player has all the confidence he can reward the team’s faith in him. If all goes according to plan, Jacksonville will be making another trip into the postseason.