On Monday night against the New Orleans Saints, Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back Travis Etienne suffered a foot injury that was deemed to be a Lisfranc sprain. There is a bit of conflict in reports, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter has pointed to the injury likely being season-ending after surgery. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport pointed to a 12-week official timetable at minimum, which keeps the door open for a late-season return.
Etienne has been going off the board at RB24 in 12-team full PPR drafts (per Fantasy Football Calculator), with a slight bump down in standard and half-PPR (RB26). The Jaguars clearly had a multi-faceted role in mind for him. If nothing else, his presence was a big ding to James Robinson’s fantasy value.
Fantasy Football Impact: Travis Etienne injury
At this point, a lot of fantasy football drafts have happened and someone in your league (maybe it’s you?) has Etienne. If it’s possible to stash him in an IR spot that’s a fine idea, but even a best-case scenario has him returning around Week 11 or 12. The Jaguars can designate him as a player who can return from IR, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense as a “cross our fingers he can play” roster management move.
After the Jaguars released Leonard Fournette late last preseason. the camp buzz around James Robinson proved worthy. He took over as the team’s clear lead back, with 240 carries, 49 catches, over 1,400 total yards and 10 total touchdowns in 14 games on his way to finishing as RB7 in fantasy across the board. Robinson is the clear fantasy winner of Etienne being out, with no other back left to take away passing game work.
Urban Meyer brought in former Buckeye Carlos Hyde to add experience to the Jaguars’ running back depth chart. He’s really just an early-down/goal line production vulture, but he’s now a little more interesting in fantasy terms. There are worse ways to use a final draft pick in a deeper league, and for those that care Hyde is the handcuff to Robinson. Names further down the depth chart to know now are Devine Ozigbo and Dare Ogunbowale.
After rumors and evidence of its demise with Etienne in the mix, the Jaguars’ backfield is now the James Robinson Show (again) in 2021.
