Doug Pederson predicting huge rushing numbers for Travis Etienne this season
Travis Etienne only has one full year in the league, but that’s not precluding Jaguars coach Doug Pederson from talking up big goals for his starting tailback.
Now, Pederson only listed numbers for his Travis Etienne wish list. He wants to see the former Clemson star put his shoulder down, break tackles through the middle of the line and turn those medium gains into first downs. The extra yards would morph into a 1,600 to 1,700-yard season. And if Pederson’s numbers come true, then Etienne would lead the league in rushing or be in the conversation to do so.
Pederson found clips of Etienne to show him this off-season. He wants his young back to try not to bounce everything outside of the middle running lanes look congested.
“It’s one of the things that when we looked at his game this offseason back in February and March before the players came back, one of the things that we noticed was just him attacking the hole downhill,” Pederson told reporters. “Shoulders squared, attack the line of scrimmage, finding that crease where a lot of times you’ll see him try to bounce. We were able to show him and really emphasize shoulders-squared, anticipating where the hole could be, and just trusting that.
“He’s done an outstanding job. He’s bought into that. He sees it, we’ve been able to show it to him. He’s working on that in training camp right now.”
If Travis Etienne approaches 1,700 yards, he’ll lead the NFL
Pederson kept bragging on Etienne.
“You don’t just hand a guy a ball and let him go run,” the coach 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.”
No running back gained 1,700 yards last season. Raiders star Josh Jacobs rushed for 1,653 to lead the NFL. Derrick Henry was second with 1538 yards and Nick Chubb picked up 1525. Etienne missed his rookie season because of foot surgery. But last year, he rushed for 1,125. Surpassing 1,000 yards used to be significant. But with more games come higher stats. Etienne was one of 16 backs to achieve 1,000.
Meanwhile, running backs are demanding more money as NFL teams are lowering the value of the position. And Travis Etienne said backs need to do more than run the ball to deposit the big checks.
“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.”