For Travis Etienne Jr., 2024 was supposed to be the year he silenced any remaining doubts. Instead, it left him saddled with questions about his role and his future in Jacksonville. The numbers told a frustrating story: a career-low 558 rushing yards and just two touchdowns. But now, with Doug Pederson out and Liam Coen in? It’s a clean slate, and Etienne knows it. He is ready for a turnaround.
“I love me one-on-one with anybody,” he said, flashing that familiar confidence. “Liam’s been getting me in space.” Coen seems to see what Pederson either ignored or misused. The problem wasn’t Etienne, it was how he was deployed. The 2022 version of Etienne, who averaged 8.3 yards per rush on outside runs, vanished under Pederson’s increasingly rigid scheme. In 2024, that outside run rate dropped to just 21.3%, and Etienne’s average per carry plummeted to 3.0. That’s malpractice, not decline. And Coen’s already started to reverse course.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and more,” Coen said after minicamp. He’s putting the ball in Etienne’s hands, in space, on jet sweeps, in the screen game. And guess what? It’s working. Etienne feels the shift, and he’s responding to it. “It’s more so players than plays with Liam,” he said. That’s a subtle jab at Pederson’s system, which often treated Etienne like a plug-in piece instead of a weapon to build around. Liam Coen, molded by the Sean McVay school of offensive balance and rhythm, gets it.
Get him in space, and he’ll do the rest. And that’s exactly what Jacksonville saw all spring. Of course, the RB room isn’t thinning out. Tank Bigsby is still there, coming off a breakout season with 766 rushing yards and seven scores. The Jaguars also drafted Bhayshul Tuten, known for his burst, in the fourth round, and LeQuint Allen Jr. in the seventh.
The message is clear: it’s a crowded backfield. But Etienne isn’t sweating that. “There’s competition wherever you go,” he said. “That’s just the way of the NFL.” With Etienne heading into a contract year? Expect urgency, but there are talks of a trade as well.
Liam Coen will not trade his running back
It was whispers, talk of a possible trade, of Jacksonville moving on before the former first-rounder walked in free agency. And then came the denial. Head coach Liam Coen, weeks into his first offseason as the Jaguars’ top dog, cut through it all. “Absolutely inaccurate,” he said via The Florida Times-Union, squashing the Etienne noise like it never existed.
The numbers don’t lie. Etienne was iced out in 2024. After back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, he saw just 150 carries last year for a modest 558 yards and two touchdowns, while Tank Bigsby, a 2023 third-rounder, emerged as the more consistent option. Coen can call Etienne consistent and praise his screen game, vision, and effort all he wants, but the depth chart is crowding up fast.
The Etienne–Lawrence Clemson reunion once had promised. But heading into Year 5, Etienne’s future feels less certain by the day. He’s playing on his fifth-year option, meaning Jacksonville could let him walk next spring without owing him another dollar. That makes him the perfect mid-season trade candidate if things slide. But he still believes Etienne still fits his offense. “Everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s done at a good clip for us,” Coen insisted.
Still, it’s hard to ignore their moves. Jacksonville traded up to take Travis Hunter No. 2 overall. This offense is developing fast. Etienne, no matter how talented, isn’t the centerpiece anymore. He’s now the guy they might keep, move, or replace. But for now, Liam Coen says he’s their guy. And until the pads go on, let’s take him at his word.
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