Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Workload to decline?

Doug Pederson said during OTAs that the Jaguars want to lean on Etienne less during the 2024 campaign in order to keep him healthy, Michael DiRocco of ESPN reports.

Pederson said it's "hard to put necessarily a rep count" on Etienne's weekly touches, but that looking ahead to 2024 season the coaching staff is "making sure [Tank Bigsby] gets opportunities to get out there and take some of the pounding off of [Etienne]." As DiRocco notes, Etienne finished 2023 accounting for 76 percent of the running back touches for Jacksonville, a high workload that coincided with a disappointing rookie showing for Bigsby. If either D'Ernest Johnson or Bigsby can emerge as a more consistent backup, fantasy managers shouldn't be surprised if Etienne's total touches do indeed decrease this season. While that would certainly represent a blow to Etienne's fantasy ceiling, the 2021 first-round pick does his damage more with efficiency and speed than grinding out carries between the tackles. Jacksonville picked up Etienne's fifth-year option earlier this offseason, which keeps him under contract through 2025.