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Of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ draft picks, which rookie, not named Travis Hunter, will you be watching most closely this season?
Of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ nine draft picks, which one will you be watching most closely during the 2025 NFL season?
Pro Football Focus recently answered this question for all 32 teams, and not surprisingly, they selected Travis Hunter, which I’m guessing is going to be the answer for most. How can you not want to see how Hunter and the team navigates him playing on both sides of the ball?
“Hunter is one of the most intriguing rookies in NFL history,” wrote PFF. “Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner is the greatest two-way player in college football history, having earned an 89.0 PFF receiving grade and a 90.3 PFF coverage grade. He projects as more of a receiver for the Jaguars right now but should still see a healthy number of snaps at cornerback in more of a rotational role.”
With Hunter being the obvious choice here, I’m going to take it in a bit of a different direction. So which rookie, outside of Hunter, am I most intrigued by? Running back Bhayshul Tuten, specifically, how big of a role can he play in 2025?
How the playing time shakes out in the running back room this season remains to be seen. Returning from last year’s team are Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby, although Etienne struggled with efficiency, averaging 3.7 yards per rush in 2024, while Bigsby put the ball on the ground.
Under the Jaguars’ new leadership structure, as a draft pick, Tuten is ‘their guy.’ But like any young player, there will be a learning curve for Tuen to navigate as he adjusts to the NFL level and a new, demanding offensive scheme.
Early on in OTAs, Tuten has already put the ball on the ground, which was an issue he dealt with during his college career.
However, what he brings to the Jaguars’ offense is speed, running a 4.32-second 40 during the pre-draft process–the fastest time of any running back at the NFL combine–and big-play ability. Last season, Tuten averaged 6.3 yards per rush and was difficult to bring down, ranking 13th in average yards after contact and 16th in missed tackles forced, per PFF.
Having a strong running game to lean on is going to be important to the overall success of the Jaguars’ offense. I think we can all expect Tuten to have a role this season, but how big of one may still have to be determined.
“I thought last week, as we were kind of getting more into the scheme, he was getting a little bit more comfortable,” Coen said of Tuten last week. “I thought he started to get a little bit more into it, had a couple better runs of feeling the zone and being able to stick his foot in the ground and accelerate.
“So, good learning experience. You know, first time in a live setting in the National Football League, on your first carry, hopefully you learn something from that moment.”
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