With Travis Etienne bolting in free agency, you would think that the Jacksonville Jaguars would make Bhayshul Tuten the No. 1 option on the depth chart. After all, head coach Liam Coen heaped praise on him earlier this year, pointing out that the coaching staff has yet to fully utilize his skill set. However, Chris Rodriguez is also in the mix and has plenty of experience.
This has led a beat writer to believe that maybe Tuten won't be RB1 in the Jacksonville backfield next season.
Could the Jaguars make Chris Rodriguez RB1 over Bhayshul Tuten?
Ryan O'Halloran of The Florida Times-Union put together 15 offseason questions about the Jaguars and stated that he expects Chris Rodriguez to be ahead of Bhayshul Tuten to start the season.
"Chris Rodriguez, followed by Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen, Jr., in a rotation," O'Halloran wrote in response to who would be the starting running back o. "Based on career carries, I would be hard-pressed to find a team with less running back experience than the Jaguars. Rodriguez has 198 attempts, Tuten 83, and Allen 23."
O'Halloran continued, "Travis Etienne accounted for 260 of the Jaguars' 489 regular-season rushing attempts last year, and Lawrence was second with 82. The Jaguars didn't draft a running back, so they plan to lean on RTA (Rodriguez-Tuten-Allen)."
After the draft, there were questions about Tuten's viability as a bell-cow in the NFL due to his fumble problem. However, Liam Coen says that the issue has been corrected, and if that's the case, the former Virginia Hokie should get a heavy workload. On the other hand, Rodriguez also played for Coen when he was the offensive coordinator in 2021.
With Coen as the coordinator, Rodriguez had his best season with the Wildcats, toting the rock 225 times for 1,379 yards with nine touchdowns. Sure, that was at the collegiate level, but the point is that Coen was able to get the most out of the fourth-year running back.
On the other hand, Tuten showed that he can break off big runs when he had four carries for 51 yards in the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. You could even make the case that's the reason the Jags let Travis Etienne walk in free agency. This is why it would be a bit odd to see Rodriguez be the No. 1 on the depth chart.
Can it happen? Sure, especially when you take into account that the coaching staff wants players to earn their jobs, but Tuten should be the favorite over Rodriguez to start because he's the most talented of the two.
Why Bhayshul Tuten, not Chris Rodriguez, will start for the Jaguars
There's no doubt that Chris Rodriguez has an edge because he has more experience. Moreover, the Jaguars expect to use him a lot based on the two-year deal worth $10 million that they gave him in free agency. Having said that, Bhayshul Tuten is no slouch. In fact, there was intel after the 2025 draft that the new regime brought him in because it wasn't sold on either Tank Bigsby or Travis Etienne.
That Etienne managed to fend everyone off was an encouraging development, but Tuten might've been expected to replace him at some point. Meanwhile, Bigsby was shipped to the Philadelphia Eagles just two weeks into the 2025 season.
But with Etienne and Bigsby gone, the Jaguars have paved the way for Tuten to be the No. 1 in the backfield. Sure, there will also be heavy doses of Chris Rodriguez, but don't expect him to be at the top of the depth chart barring anything unexpected.
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