Bhayshul Tuten vs. Chris Rodriguez: Jaguars' backfield mess

The Jaguars' backfield was supposed to have an obvious answer by now. Travis Etienne bolted in free agency, signing a 4-year, $48 million deal with the Saints, which left Jacksonville without its lead back for the first time since Etienne arrived as a first-round pick. That opened a real job in a run-first Liam Coen offense. Instead of a clean handoff, camp has turned into a genuine 2-man scrap between 2nd-year speedster Bhayshul Tuten and free-agent addition Chris Rodriguez, and apparently nobody in the building has settled it yet.

Hayden Winks framed it as a fair fight from the jump, predicting a fairly even touch split once Rodriguez got fully healthy, with Tuten and Rodriguez trading carries and Woody Marks-type Lequint Allen mixed in on passing downs. That tracked with the offseason buzz around Tuten, who's reportedly set goals of 1,500 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns this year after flashing home-run speed as a rookie.

But the closer camp gets to cutdown day, the murkier this looks. Per Winks, Jaguars beat reporters have no real clarity on how the touches will shake out, and the belief is the coaching staff itself hasn't locked in a plan. There's even chatter Jacksonville could still add another back before rosters get trimmed, which is not the kind of thing teams do when they're comfortable with what's already on the roster.

Then the pads came on, and Rodriguez started making a case. Winks reported Rodriguez looks like the early favorite for goal-line work specifically, with the Jaguars running him through situational football reps as they hammer out short-yardage and red-zone plans.

SleeperNFL relayed reporting from SI's John Shipley that gets more specific: Rodriguez has stood out in team drills since the first day of pads, churning out yards after contact and getting the Jaguars out of their own end zone on positive-gain carries. Shipley's read is that the staff sees Rodriguez as a bruiser who fits exactly the kind of power-back role Tuten actually handled near the goal line as a rookie last season — which would mean a real shift in job description if it holds.

SleeperNFL's blunt summary says it all: not ideal for Tuten truthers. None of this means Tuten is losing the job outright — Winks still expects some form of split, and Tuten's burst and receiving chops make him a lock for touches regardless of who scores in short yardage. But with no clear hierarchy, a coaching staff that reportedly hasn't picked a lane, and the possibility of another body getting added before final cuts, the Jaguars backfield is shaping up as one of the league's messier situational battles heading into Week 1.