Jacksonville Jaguars 2021 training camp preview: Running backs

The Jacksonville Jaguars have depth at running back.

Drafting running back Travis Etienne was rather surprising because James Robinson was coming off a productive rookie campaign. The Illinois State product totted the rock 240 times for 1,070 yards and seven touchdowns. Moreover, he totaled 1,414 yards from scrimmage, the most by an undrafted rookie in NFL history.

Robinson did need a backup, as he had 86 percent of the teams’ total carries in 2020. Moreover, the running game experience a dropoff in production when the former Redbird missed the last two games in the season with an ankle injury. Besides drafting Etienne, the team’s brass signed veteran Carlos Hyde, who played for head coach Urban Meyer at Ohio State, in free agency. The 2014 second-round pick is in his second stint in Jacksonville. He has plenty of starting experience and is a solid change-of-pace back.

Also on the roster are Nathan Cottrell, Dare Ogunbowale, and Devine Ozigbo. The trio will have to compete for one spot on the team if the Jags decide to carry four running backs this upcoming season. Ogunbowale started the two games Robinson missed. He ran the ball 32 times for 145 yards and averaged 4.5 yards per carry.

Cottrell spent most of the 2020 season in the practice squad but the Jaguars elevated him to the active roster several times and played 44 percent of the team’s special teams snaps. Ozigbo appeared in eight games last season and had one carry for one yard. He may be facing the steepest hill to climb ahead of training camp.