Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson 'Wants More' from His Running Backs in 2024

The Jaguars fell off a cliff to end the 2023 season. They were two-seed in the AFC at one point but took a turn in their final six games, losing five of their last six.

According to ESPN, when the Jaguars beat the Houston Texans on the road on Nov. 26 to improve to 8-3, they had a 98% chance to make the playoffs, per ESPN’s Football Power Index.

But they lost five of their final six games — with the only victory coming over the 2-15 Carolina Panthers — and now face an offseason filled with questions surrounding the quarterback, the defense, what’s needed to boost the talent level, and its coaching.

Jacksonville Jaguars Rushing Attack

Pederson enters his third season as the Jaguars’ head coach. He was a breath of fresh air after the demise of former head coach Urban Meyer, but the pressure is on to get the offense to an elite level of play.

Pederson led the Jaguars to the 13th-ranked scoring offense in 2023, but most of their success was passing-based, having the 9th-ranked passing attack in the NFL. Adding a more efficient rush offense is necessary for the Jaguars heading into 2024.

Star running back Travis Etienne is a vital piece to their offense. He is a home-run hitter who has carried much of the workload since being drafted by the Jaguars in the first round of the 2021 draft. Pederson commented that he cannot be the only weapon in the backfield and wants to get others involved.

According to NFL.com, Jags head coach Doug Pederson noted earlier in the offseason that the club wants to lessen the load on starting running back Travis Etienne. A key to accomplishing that goal begins with getting more out of 2023 third-round pick Tank Bigsby.

“We have to get Tank going, bottom line,” Pederson said last week via JagsWire. “He is too good — that’s why we drafted him. I think early he had some ‘what is that?’-type plays for whatever reason, right or wrong. Again, in and out of the lineup. He is a young player that we’re excited about. Like we talked about last year, we take some burden off of Etienne a little bit, keep him healthy for the remainder of the season.”

The Jaguars finished 24th in the NFL for yards per game on the ground and 30th in yards per attempt. Helping Trevor Lawrence with a potent rushing attack needs to be a goal of Doug Pederson heading into a volatile year for the Jaguars. Hopefully, he can get Bigsby and Etienne the necessary opportunities to turn it around.

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