The Jaguars backfield is finally, mercifully open. Travis Etienne is gone in free agency, off to New Orleans, and the job that's left behind is Bhayshul Tuten's to lose. The Virginia Tech speedster went in the 4th round last year, No. 104 overall, and quietly put together a useful rookie season buried behind Etienne, finishing with 307 yards and 5 touchdowns in a part-time role. Now he walks into camp as the presumptive lead back, with only Chris Rodriguez Jr. and LeQuint Allen standing between him and a real workload.
Liam Coen went out of his way to hype up Tuten's track speed and upside heading into camp.
Coen's quote is the kind of thing that gets fantasy Twitter's blood pumping: a 4.28-second 40 time, "go be special," a coach flat-out saying he's expecting a big year. That's the coach-speak version of a green light. Tuten's blend of vision and top-end burst was exactly why Jacksonville drafted him in the first place, and with Etienne's workload up for grabs, the runway is there.
But hype from the head coach and hype from the people who actually cover the team every day at the facility are two different things. Hayden Winks relayed that the beat reporters covering the Jaguars are in agreement: Tuten isn't getting to 1,000 rushing yards this season. That's notable context, since only about half the league's running backs crack that number in a given year even with a clear starting job.
Hayden Winks passed along the beat consensus that Tuten falls short of 1,000 rushing yards, plus a note on Travis Hunter's usage leaning cornerback.
Consensus among the Jaguars reporters is Bhayshul Tuten does not rush for 1,000 yards (which is a lot!). Also, a lot more CB than WR for Travis Hunter. Great details from this show for the most fascinating team for fantasy purposes and beyond this year: https://t.co/Z8XCqOpDTR
The gap between those two signals is really the whole story of the Jaguars' 2026 backfield. It's not that Tuten isn't good — it's that a crowded room with Rodriguez and Allen, plus a Coen offense that spreads touches around and leans on the pass, might cap his ceiling below what the highlight-reel speed suggests. A 900-yard season with big plays mixed in is still a fine outcome for a Day 3 rookie a year removed from Virginia Tech. It's just not the same story as the one Coen was selling.
For fantasy purposes, that's the tension worth watching all camp: is Tuten a league-winning breakout, or a solid RB2 whose per-touch efficiency outpaces his volume? The beat writers watching practice every day are leaning toward the latter, and that's usually worth more than one glowing coach soundbite in July.