If there's one thing the Jacksonville Jaguars have made abundantly clear since the new regime took over in 2025, it's that everybody needs to compete for their job. The coaching staff showed last year that it won't be afraid to play the best players regardless of seniority or contract status. This will lead to several intriguing position battles at Organized Team Activities.
Rookie offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon will try to unseat either left guard Ezra Cleveland or right guard Patrick Mekari, while Caleb Ransaw will try to seize a starting spot. Meanwhile, tight ends Quintin Morris and Hunter Long will try to stick around after the arrival of Tanner Koziol and Nate Boerkircher.
That said, the Jags' position battle at running back could turn heads at Organized Activities.
Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez will get the spotlight at Jaguars OTAs
The Jaguars raised eyebrows when they let running back Travis Etienne walk in free agency. Not only because the former Clemson Tiger was coming off a banner season, but also because they're turning to the somewhat inexperienced Bhayshul Tuten to replace him.
While Etienne logged 1,399 yards from scrimmage and 13 total touchdowns, Tuten didn't crack 400 total yards. Granted, Etienne got most of the workload, so there weren't many touches left for Tuten.
Now, Jacksonville will need Tuten to step into Etienne's place. To add depth to the backfield, the team's brass signed Chris Rodriguez to a two-year deal worth $10 million. Like Tuten, Rodriguez doesn't have much tread on the tires. But their lack of collective experience has led analysts to urge the Jaguars to sign or trade for a veteran running back.
Tuten and Rodriguez will have a prime opporutnity to quell concerns at OTAs.
The Jaguars are confident in Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez
Head coach Liam Coen has heaped praise on Bhayshul Tuten, pointing out that the Jaguars have yet to use his full skill set. They'll get a chance now that Travis Etienne is out of the picture. Sure, his paltry average of 3.7 yards per carry last year is a reason for concern. But it can easily be explained by the fact that he got plenty of work in short-yardage situations last year.
I think Bhayshul Tuten is a bit unfairly critiqued for a lack of explosives as a rookie.
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) March 9, 2026
Important context: the Jaguars used Tuten specifically as a short-yardage back on 25% of his carries. For comparison, only 14% of Travis Etienne's rushes came in these situations (3 or fewer…
Tuten should get more opportunities to showcase his speed and ability to create big runs like he did in the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, when he had four carries for 51 yards. On the other hand, Chris Rodriguez was much better in 2025 than his stat line suggests.
Although Rodriguez only had 112 carries for 500 yards with six touchdowns, he ranked second in yards after contact per attempt (4.0) among 48 running backs, and his rushing success rate of 45.5 percent was eighth.
When you add it all up, it's easy to see why the Jaguars are so high in Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez. It may be a matter of time before they prove that letting Travis Etienne walk in free agency was the right call.
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