The Jacksonville Jaguars have three running backs who will be selected in every fantasy football draft. All three will not be fantasy relevant. There will likely be value in figuring out who is. Could newcomer Bhayshul Tuten be the one who emerges as the top fantasy asset in Jacksonville?
Should You Draft Bhayshul Tuten in Fantasy?
Fantasy managers love their shiny new toy. Even though Travis Etienne Jr. is only 26 years old and Tank Bigsby is only 24, Tuten is the newcomer. The prospect of the unknown is what makes him exciting.
Tuten tore up the combine, running a blazing 4.32 40-time, good for a 98th percentile speed score. At 206 pounds, he has good enough size to be a lead back, but his speed and agility profiles him more as a satellite back, especially in light of his 12.1% best season college target share.
Although he was a Day 3 pick, the Jaguars used an early fourth round selection on Tuten. That’s not the same as a guy going in the fifth or sixth round. We’ve seen far more success from fourth-rounders. Tuten has a chance to make an impact as a rookie. He will make an impact as a rookie. The question we need to answer is whether that will matter for fantasy football.
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Landing spot matters. Tuten landing with the Jaguars and innovative offensive-minded head coach in Liam Coen is excellent for his long-term outlook. Etienne is almost certainly in his last year with the Jaguars and Bigsby will never be more than a two-down grinder. But in year one, Tuten will be sharing a backfield with two incumbent veterans.
Fantasy managers who draft Tuten will have to exercise patience. Unless he blows everyone away with his talent in training camp, he’s unlikely to open the season in a fantasy-relevant role. He’ll get work, but he won’t be startable on a 30% snap share, even if he sees that much.
The obvious comparison fantasy managers are drawing here is to Bucky Irving. Last season, while Coen was the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay, Irving opened the year quite a bit behind Rachaad White. It took a few weeks, but eventually, talent won out, and Irving was a league-winner over the second half.
I’m not suggesting Tuten will be a league winner or even needs to be to justify his cost in fantasy drafts. The point of the comparison is that it will take time before Tuten matters. If you’re drafting Tuten, you can’t drop him after Week 3 because he hasn’t done much.
The bet here is that Etienne isn’t talented enough to fend off the younger, more electric, and more explosive rookie. The bet here is that Bigsby will be limited to early downs and goal line work, the former of which Tuten can eat into once he gets going.
It feels like Virginia Tech RB Bhayshul Tuten makes 2 to 3 guys miss on every one of his runs. His reactive athleticism is top-tier and so much fun to watch pic.twitter.com/kcpK2mvyBx
— Daniel Harms (@InHarmsWay19) April 4, 2025
This is going to be an open competition. The problem for Bigsby is that his ability to win a share of this backfield is limited. In an absolute best-case scenario, Bigsby is the lead runner with goal line duties. In fact, I would say it’s likely he earns goal line back duties.
If Bigsby doesn’t score, though, he’s probably not getting to double-digit fantasy points, as the third-year back earned a 2.4% target share last season. He is a zero in the passing game.
The most likely outcome is Bigsby shares early down duties with Etienne. At least early in the season, we’re very likely looking at all three backs seeing playing time. It could be a hot hand approach. It could be a 40-30-30 split, which would be a nightmare for fantasy, rendering all three unstartable.
Fantasy managers should be willing to take shots on members of this backfield. We saw Coen utilize Irving as a true RB1 over the second half of last season. Both Etienne and Tuten have the potential to be that guy. Etienne because we saw it in 2023, Tuten because we saw him at Virginia Tech and we know he has the receiving chops to do it.
Receiving work is key, as the Jaguars could be faced with needing to score points to keep up in games. With defense checking in at No. 31 in PFSN’s Defense+ metric, they may be throwing more than they want to.
Last season, the Jaguars only had a 64% pass rate when trailing by 7+ points. That was the 12th lowest in the league. Even when losing, they were running more than they should have been. We could be in store for more volume and better play calling from a smart young offensive mind.
Based on what we’ve seen in the past three seasons, I do not believe Etienne is anything more than a replacement-level talent. That may be all Tuten is as well. But we don’t have any NFL evidence of that yet, which is why I am much more inclined to invest in the rookie.
Tuten’s ADP sits at RB49, which is simultaneously expensive for a fourth-round rookie, but cheap relative to the draft capital investment in a fantasy draft. I have Tuten ranked as my RB46, right in line with consensus, and very much endorse taking chances on him as your RB4 or RB5.
Cameron Sheath’s Bhayshul Tuten Fantasy Projection
The late rounds are perfect for taking shots on explosive rookies who could surprise in 2025. Tuten is exactly that, and finds himself in an RB room with plenty of question marks. Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby remain the favorites to dominate touches in Jacksonville this season, with Bigsby’s hard-running style complementing Etienne’s receiving ability.
The rookie, though, will be looking to earn the trust of new Jaguars HC Liam Coen, who inherited both Bigsby and Etienne, and no doubt campaigned for Tuten.
The Virginia Tech standout tallied double-digit rushing touchdowns in both of his two years as a Hokie, demonstrating a nose for the end zone. Etienne and Bigsby totaled nine rushing scores combined in 2024, and Coen will be looking to jumpstart the team’s rushing attack immediately.
Tuten could quickly surpass Etienne in the pecking order for ground work, as Bigsby did in 2024. Etienne started 15 games last season, but saw 18 fewer carries (150) than his running mate. That may be down to the veteran’s 3.7 average yards per carry, which was tied for second-fewest among all running backs with at least 150 carries.
Tuten could easily spend his entire rookie year third on the depth chart, but in the late rounds, he’s a worthwhile upside shot in case Coen hands him the job. At worst, he’s an easy cut, and at best, he’s a top-20 back that costs you almost nothing.
