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Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne was probably taken in the first or second round in most of the fantasy football drafts held before the start of the season. Now he is not even the best back on the Jaguars, let alone the fantasy squads he is rostered on.
Etienne, like most of the 1-4 Jaguars, has gotten off to a slug-like start. He has only rushed for 231 yards and two touchdowns while adding 16 receptions for 91 yards in the passing game. Meanwhile, backup Tank Bigsby has been bowling over defenders over like a Pete Weber ball bowls over pins. With 191 rushing yards and two TD over just his last two games, Bigsby is a threat to ruin Etienne’s fantasy value.
If Etienne did not have enough problems keeping his fantasy value in the positives, he was hit hard against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5 and limited to just six rushing attempts and six catches out of the backfield. So what is his status for Week 6? Here is the latest on Etienne:
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Is Travis Etienne Hurt or Healthy?
While Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson was quoted as saying that Etienne “got popped pretty good” and that is why he was only given six handoffs against Indianapolis, there is nothing to suggest he will not suit up against the Chicago Bears Sunday morning when the teams collide in London.
Etienne was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday due to his shoulder, and he was taken off the injury report on Friday. Etienne will see the field on Sunday and at worst will split the playing time and touches with the emerging Bigsby.
Fantasy managers who roster Etienne will have to watch the injury report to see if Etienne’s status changes before kickoff, but as of now he is in no danger of opting to enjoy tea and crumpets on the sideline instead of giving it a go.
Travis Etienne Fantasy Outlook
A healthy Etienne is not out of the woods fantasy-wise because he still has to contend with Bigbsy outperforming him when he gets touches.
Etienne and Bigbsy should complement each other since they have completely different running styles. Bigsby is a battering ram with above-average speed who loves to take on tacklers inside, while Etienne prefers to stay outside with his runs. Etienne also is the more accomplished pass catcher of the pair.
Both Jags backs should have a defined role on the team that gets them both 10-15 touches per week. The problem is that those who roster Etienne were hoping he would average 19 touches per game in 2024 like he did in 2023. That is not going to happen in the immediate future while Bigbsy is running like Earl Campbell.
#Jaguars HC Doug Pederson on whether Tank Bigsby will replace Travis Etienne atop the depth chart:
“No, not at all. Travis is our guy. Tank had a good game, that’s just the way games go.”
Pederson has a 35% reliability rating on depth chart coachspeak pic.twitter.com/GALzbYRd4C
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) October 6, 2024
Etienne can salvage his fantasy season for those who drafted him. He just needs to string a couple good games together to force the coaching staff to ease up on the Bigsby snaps and touches. It would also help if Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars offense collectively improved and played as effectively as they did when they scored 37 points this past Sunday.
The bottom line is Etienne is now looking like an RB2 for fantasy instead of an RB1. We just have to hope that the downward spiral does not continue and he ends up being a catastrophic RB3.
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