Bhayshul Tuten is the Jaguars breakout candidate the NFL keeps overlooking

The Jacksonville Jaguars showed their belief in sophomore Bhayshul Tuten when they let Travis Etienne walk in free agency. The decision raised eyebrows across the NFL because Etienne was coming off a banner season and had been a staple of their offense for several years. That said, Tuten flashed enough potential as a rookie to make you think that the Jags made the right call.

While some outside skepticism remains about Tuten's ability to be a RB1, head coach Liam Coen's latest remarks go on to show that Jacksonville expects him to be a difference-maker next season.

The Jaguars have a special running back in Bhayshul Tuten

Liam Coen had a conversation with Pete Schrager of ESPN. He stated that Bhayshul Tuten underwent an adjustment period as a rookie but is ready to show his game-changing skills in Year 2.

"Yeah, I thought [he] had a really good spring; Year 1 coming from Virginia Tech and North Carolina Central to Virginia Tech, so he had a little bit of a learning curve with the protections and a lot of the things that come with playing running back as a rookie," Coen said (32:01 mark). "You look at the playoff game against Buffalo. You look at some of the other games down in the red zone.

Coen continued, "He does a great job of finding the end zone. He does, and his yards after contact and rushing yards when he can get going and get downhill. I mean, it was 4.28 [seconds] coming out. He can fly. Now it's more so he was so conscientious about ball security last year and doing right. Okay, now Tut, you got it. You understand it more. Now, just go be you. Like, go do what got you here. Go be special. That's who you are, and we're definitely expecting Tuten to have a big year for us."

Bhayshul Tuten had a strong outing in the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, running the 40-yard dash in a position-best 4.28 seconds and posting a 10-yard split of 1.49 seconds. On the other hand, his penchant for losing the football — he lost nine fumbles in his last two college seasons — was perceived as a red flag.

While Tuten did have two fumbles in 2025, Coen thinks it was more of a team issue rather than an individual one. Similarly, his underwhelming average of 3.7 yards per carry stemmed from the fact that he had a bigger workload than Travis Etienne in short-yardage situations.

However, a closer look shows that Tuten was more effective than traditional suggests. He ranked third among 55 running backs with a rushing success rate of 48.3 percent, while his 21.8 percent rate of tackles avoided was 10th. Simply put, it's easy to see why Coen is so high on the former Virginia Tech Hokie.

Bhayshul Tuten will prove the Jaguars were right to let Travis Etienne walk

One of the biggest reasons the Jaguars drafted Bhayshul Tuten was that the new regime wasn't completely sold on Travis Etienne. That he went on to have a banner season was an encouraging development, but the Jags never intended to bring him back, let alone give him a $52 million deal.

Now, Tuten is under pressure to prove that he's a capable replacement for Etienne. Sure, his lack of experience is a reason for concern, but he's simply too talented to keep flying under the radar for long.

Analysts are beginning to warm up to the idea that Bhayshul Tuten is a playmaker, and Liam Coen's comments about him echo the sentiment. The rest of the NFL will catch up when he puts his game-changing skills on full display next season.

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