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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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The Jacksonville Jaguars just put together one of the best seasons in franchise history.
Under first-year head coach Liam Coen, the Jaguars finished 13-4, won the AFC South, and got back to the playoffs for the first time in three years. It was also their most wins since 1999.
But just after the season, they lost one of their best players. Longtime running back Travis Etienne left in free agency, signing a four-year, $52 million deal with the Saints. Etienne was coming off one of the best seasons of his career, posting 1,107 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns on 260 carries, averaging 4.3 yards per carry, along with 292 receiving yards and a career-high six receiving touchdowns.
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He was Jacksonville's lead back for four years and his connection with franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence went back to their college days together at Clemson.
Now, Coen is already hyping up the player expected to fill that void, second-year running back Bhayshul Tuten.
"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 in a recent episode of "The Schrager Hour" podcast.
"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. Now it's more so. He was so conscientious about ball security last year and doing right. Okay, now Tuten, you got it, you understand it more; now just go be you. Go be special; that's who you are. We're definitely expecting Tuten to have a big year for us."
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Tuten played in 15 games last year and rushed for 307 yards and five touchdowns on 83 carries, averaging 3.7 yards per carry. He also caught the ball 10 times for 79 yards and two receiving scores.
Those numbers don't jump off the page, but he showed flashes for a player nobody had on their radar going into the season, and that was all with him playing just 21% of offensive snaps behind Etienne.
In the Jaguars' Wild Card loss to the Bills, Tuten rushed for 51 yards on just four carries, and in Week 11 against the Chargers, he ran the ball 15 times for 74 yards and a touchdown, his best performance of the regular season.
He posted 1,159 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns on 183 carries, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, in his senior year at Virginia Tech before the Jaguars selected him in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and he already showed in his first year with Jacksonville that rare speed and burst that can make him a true difference-maker for the offense.
With Etienne now in New Orleans and the starting job wide open for the first time in years, Tuten is poised for a breakout. The Jaguars signed Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Ameer Abdullah in free agency, and also have another second-year back in LeQuint Allen Jr., but Tuten clearly presents the most upside, and with Coen already raving about him, it feels like the coaching staff believes he can be the guy in Jacksonville.
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