5 Jacksonville Jaguars players who desperately need to develop in 2022

No. 4 Jaguars player who needs to develop in 2022 – Travis Etienne.

Running back Travis Etienne’s rookie campaign finished before it started. Back in training camp, he put on display the explosiveness and burst that made him a playmaker at Clemson but he suffered a Lisfranc injury in the first preseason and missed the whole 2021 campaign.

Had E-T-N been healthy, the previous coaching staff would have made him a key cog in the passing game. The Jags wouldn’t have suddenly turned into an offensive juggernaut but they might have been able to find the end zone more often and avoid scoring the least points in the NFL.

Etienne is ahead of schedule in his recovery and he may be available for the team’s organized activities. There is no need for the Jaguars’ to rush him back on the field, especially at this point of the season but it’s encouraging to hear he hasn’t had any setbacks. Fellow running back James Robinson is coming off a torn Achilles, so he might not be available for the start of the season.

This means that Etienne could have a heavy workload early in 2022 and showed the Jaguars’ decision-makers made the right call when they draft him 25th overall in last year’s selection meeting. See, drafting a running back in the first round isn’t a sound strategy, as you can always find quality prospects in later rounds But if Etienne can give the Jags’ offense a boost and become the playmaker they envisioned, it won’t matter where he was chosen.