2021 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Travis Etienne's injury puts James Robinson back in top-15 RB discussion
Travis Etienne's IR detour boosts the Fantasy value of the Jags 2020 surprise

The 2021 preseason has mostly been free from serious injuries, but that changed Monday night when , as Jaguars rookie running back Travis Etienne left the game against the Saints with a foot sprain. And we learned Tuesday that he suffered something like a worst-case scenario injury and will require surgery, ending his season before it even begins.
According to multiple reports, Etienne suffered a serious Lisfranc injury, a mid-foot injury that involves broken bones or torn ligaments. The surgery will require a 12-week recovery timetable, at minimum, and the Jaguars placed him on injured reserve Tuesday, officially ruling him out for the season.
Etienne also loses value in Dynasty formats, but should still be a fifth-round pick or thereabouts in startup drafts. You'll just have to be extra patient, but Etienne still profiles as a potential Fantasy superstar given his playmaking in the passing game as well as the draft capital the Jaguars used to acquire him. He'll still have plenty of value next season, and if you can buy low on him right now, it makes perfect sense.
Of course, Etienne's loss in the near term is James Robinson's gain, in this instance. Robinson was already slated for a significant role for the Jaguars as the likely first- and second-down back, but his upside was capped by Etienne's presence. Now? Robinson moves back into the top-15 RB discussion for me.
That's aggressive, I'll admit. It's likely higher than the consensus will be. But I don't think I'm being overly aggressive in my projection for him: 262 carries (13th in the NFL), 1,127 yards (14th), eight TD (21st among RB), with 55 catches for 441 yards and two touchdowns. Considering Robinson scored 10 touchdowns in just 14 games last season in what was likely a worse offense than the one he'll be in this year, I may actually be underselling him.
Robinson likely won't dominate work to quite the same extent he did a year ago, when he played 60% of the snaps in 10 of 14 games and topped 70% in seven. Carlos Hyde is probably a better backup than anyone they had in house last season, and I have him getting 105 carries, 73 more than any player on the Jaguars had a year ago. However, the Jaguars figure to be more run-heavy under Urban Meyer, especially if they can be more competitive than they were, so there should be plenty of opportunities for Robinson even with Hyde taking on an expanded role.
And, of course, if the Jaguars are forced into more passing situations, I would expect Robinson to benefit from that anyway. Hyde has been one of the least-effective pass-catching running backs in the league in his career and has more than 27 receptions just once in seven seasons. I don't think the soon-to-be 31-year-old is likely to be much of a threat to Robinson there, and Dare Ogunbowale isn't exactly a huge threat in my eyes. The Jaguars will likely bring in another player who might be able to fill in some of Etienne's role, and maybe they manufacture a few more touches for Laviska Shenault out of the backfield, but my assumption is Robinson is going to get most of the work in passing downs.
Back before the NFL Draft, we were hoping the Jaguars would avoid bringing in another running back because we liked Robinson so much coming off his awesome rookie season. He's not a superstar talent, but he's clearly good enough to be a lead back, especially with the pass-catching skills he demonstrated. He should get plenty of opportunities to show that yet again, and he's squarely in the conversation with the Antonio Gibson, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, D'Andre Swift group for me on Draft Day.
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