The Jacksonville Jaguars used a first-round 2021 NFL Draft pick at No. 25 overall on Travis Etienne, and first-year head coach Urban Meyer sees potential for theformer Clemson Tigers star as both a running back and wide receiver. Monday at Jaguars minicamp, Meyer provided an update on the 5-foot-10, 215-pounder's offseason progress.
"Good — I saw flashes of what I remember seeing in college here, the last week and a half," Meyer said. "The Jaguars, when you look at statistically, big plays were very hard to find last year. And this guy's a big play written all over it. He's a space player. So, ideally, we're going to be one of those multiple offenses that has spread elements as well as the Y, Y or the two tights. I think that's going to be hard to defend, if you do both, and he is a space player — and you could see that the last few practices."
In 45 games at Clemson from 2017-20, Etienne turned 788 touches (686 rushes, 102 receptions) into 6,107 yards (4,952 rushing, 1,555 receiving) and 78 touchdowns (70 rushing, eight receiving). A four-star recruit out of Jennings (La.) High, Etienne was the industry-generated 247Sports Composite's No. 213 overall prospect and No. 15 running back in 2017.
"It was very important, especially for the way the position is headed," Etienne said April 30 at an introductory press conference with the Jaguars, when he was asked about his 2020 season's versatile production. "For running backs, an every-down back, three-down back, be out there on third down, so you can get the little dump offs that turn to 10-, 20-yard gains. And now, I feel as if my transition, it really was amazing to just have (quarterback Trevor Lawrence). He's here again, so we kind of worked on that every day after practice, got on the JUGGS machine. We just really owned it. We wanted to be better. So we got in there and just worked after practice and just it happened."
Etienne is in a position group with the likes of Nathan Cottrell, Carlos Hyde, Dare Ogunbowale, Devine Ozigbo and James Robinson. Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, though, sees Etienne earning a role — perhaps more than one — in the offense for 2021 and beyond.
"Well, I think if you go back to his college film, I think you see an explosive player and multi-aligned," Baalke said April 30. "Can catch, he can come out of the backfield. So he offers a tremendous amount of versatility in the pass game, as well as that explosive playmaking ability that you covet."
