Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. had a record day for his fantasy football owners this week in London against the Buffalo Bills, but the former Clemson star isn’t overly thrilled. Apparently, the third-year back plays in a league of his own and this just happened to be the week he played against himself.
“I played against myself in fantasy fb today,” Etienne wrote on X with a crying emoji after the 25-20 win.
Etienne posted 136 rushing yards, 48 receiving yards, and two touchdowns on 26 carries and four receptions. His 36.5 fantasy points are good for second in the league so far this week, second only to Bears wide receiver D.J. Moore who had 49 points off of a three-touchdown, 280-yard receiving day against the Commanders.
Through five games for the Jaguars this season, Etienne has 95 carries for 396 yards and three rushing touchdowns. He also has 18 catches for 144 receiving yards. So far, he’s on pace to at least match, if not exceed, his 2022 season totals.
Pederson sees 1,600+ yard season coming for Etienne
Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson bragged at length about his starting running back this offseason, predicting a career-high for this season.
“You don’t just hand a guy a ball and let him go run,” Pederson said. “Sometimes that happens, but there’s that skill and ability to anticipate a hole. We always talk about speed through the hole, not to the hole type of thing. He’s really embraced that this training camp. That, to me, is the next step for him and that 11-12-13, now the yards start creeping up. And maybe he’s pushing 1,600-1,700 yards as a rusher.”
Etienne was also hoping to expand his role on the offense by getting even more involved in the passing game.
“I feel like it also depends on the type of back you are, because you definitely see some backs getting paid,” Travis Etienne told reporters. “Christian McCaffrey, for instance. He catches the ball out of the backfield. So I feel like for running backs … you have to diversify your game. You just have to be more than a downhill bruiser in order to be able to be on that level and use that leverage when you go into those (contract) conversations.”
No running back gained 1,700 rushing yards last season. Raiders star Josh Jacobs rushed for 1,653 to lead the NFL. Meanwhile, Derrick Henry was second with 1,538 yards and Nick Chubb picked up 1,525. Etienne missed his rookie season because of foot surgery, but last year, he rushed for 1,125 yards.
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