Jaguars must take advantage of a Travis Etienne's rarely-used skill in 2024

A disappointing 2023 season hasn’t shaken the confidence of Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne. Entering his fourth season in the NFL, the Louisana native is one of the many offensive players on this roster eager to prove last season was a mere speedbump and not indicative of his ability.

Etienne lit it up in his sophomore campaign, racking up 1,125 yards on the ground, averaging 5.1 yards-per-carry, and taking the starting job away from James Robinson. Last season, despite only averaging 3.8 yards per carry, he still reached the 1,000-yard plateau again (1,008).

Jaguars RB Travis Etienne’s 2024 expectations

As you’d expect, Etienne will play a prominent role in Press Taylor’s offense, and the former Clemson star has lofty goals in 2024. In a recent interview, he said, “I’m expecting an unbelievable year … they’ve been getting me more involved in the passing game, and that’s just gonna take my game to another level.”

Getting him more involved in the aerial attack has not been talked about publicly all that much, but the 25-year-old has been sneaky good when thrown to in his career.

Travis Etienne’s pass-catching stats

It’s fair to say the Jags haven’t had a marquee pass catcher over the past two seasons, but by committee, they boast a solid group of receivers.

The likes of Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, Marvin Jones, Zay Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Evan Engram have been among the many dependable targets of Etienne’s college teammate Trevor Lawrence. However, only Kirk and Engram remain on that list, which begs the question, will Etienne be more involved in the passing game this season?

Etienne’s put up some solid receiving numbers in his career, catching 35 of his 45 targets in 2022 for 315 yards. Last season, he hauled in 58 of his 73 targets for 476 yards and a touchdown, a memorable one against the Pittsburgh Steelers. During his time at Clemson, he had 102 catches for 1,055 yards.

Will the Jaguars get Travis Etienne involved in the passing game?

It isn’t easy to know if Etienne will be more involved in the passing game in 2024. Christian Kirk is back healthy and likely to get the first looks by Lawrence down the field; then there’s Engram, who was arguably their most dependable pass catcher down the stretch of 2023 when Kirk got injured.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of hype surrounding their first-round selection Brian Thomas Jr., and their marquee free-agent signing, Gabe Davis, both of whom should give the offense more verticality than we’ve seen in the past.

Etienne is a reliable pass catcher and can create some mismatches, but Doug Pederson needs him to move the ball on the ground, and increasing his workload with more targets contradicts that. He could add another dimension, but I see Etienne’s involvement through the air being more of a situational thing.

Opposing teams will be expecting the Jags to feed Etienne the rock time and again, but the Jags can catch other teams off guard by going down the field occasionally after handing it off to Etienne repeatedly.

In the end, the Jaguars must remember that utilizing Travis Etienne's pass-catching at the right moment could be a game-changer. That's why Press Taylor may want to consider using that forgotten part of his game more often.