The Jacksonville Jaguars left some of their fans disappointed when RB Travis Etienne departed in free agency for the New Orleans Saints. But the reality is that keeping their 2021 first round pick was never realistically in the cards, given the team’s salary cap constraints this offseason.

And the team believes they have a more than capable successor waiting in the wings in 2025 fourth-round pick Bhayshul Tuten out of Virginia Tech. While training camp and the preseason are still to come, Tuten appears to have the inside track for the job.

Tuten received limited opportunities in 2025 for the Jags, but the rookie delivered with some impactful results when he did. Of his 83 rushes for 307 yards, he totaled 23 first downs and five touchdowns. He also had 10 catches for 79 yards. Three went for first downs, and two more were touchdowns.

ESPN’s Tristan H. Cockroft sees Tuten as building on that small sample size and lists him as his fantasy football running back breakout candidate for 2026.

ESPN analyst names Jaguars RB Bhayshul Tuten as 2026 fantasy football breakout player

 “Travis Etienne Jr.’s departure from Jacksonville might have been met with some raised eyebrows, but I agree with the Jaguars on Bhayshul Tuten’s upside and ability to deliver similar production in a starting role,” Cockroft wrote. “As a rookie, Tuten turned seven of his 93 total touches into touchdowns and had the second-best missed tackles forced rate among running backs (31%), all that on the heels of standout 2024 at Virginia Tech as well as a combine in which he displayed his elite speed. Tuten’s path to breaking through as a high-end fantasy RB2 is entirely clear.”

Whoever emerges from the preseason as the Jaguars’ RB1 is entering a strong spot to deliver from a fantasy perspective. Liam Coen reunited with offensive line coach Brian Picucci, with whom he coached in Tampa Bay and at Kentucky. Coen and Picucci worked together to help the Bucs’ dreadful 2023 rushing attack morph into one of the NFL’s best in 2024 with rookie Bucky Irving carrying the load.

Jacksonville has also invested in improving their blocking over the next several years, particularly on the edge with the recent extension of tight end Brenton Strange and the pick of Texas A&M TE Nate Boerkircher in the second round of the 2026 draft. Third-round pick IOL Emmanuel Pregnon out of Oregon, who has starting potential and is a road grader in the run game, could prove to be a steal.

Tuten has the skillset to potentially help take advantage of those improvements and galvanize the Jaguars’ ground attack in 2026. We’ll find out if fantasy football fans take notice and cash in this year.