Jaxson De Ville
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Travis Etienne played running back at Clemson and he did it well enough to be the No. 25 pick in this year’s draft, but the Jaguars are asking him to do something new.
Etienne worked as a wide receiver during the team’s rookie minicamp and head coach Urban Meyer said “the worst-case scenario you have a running back with the skillset of a wide receiver and best-case scenario you have a hybrid player that can do both.” Whichever way it goes, Etienne said that the change suits him just fine.
“When I came out here, he brought me into a room, asked me how I felt about it, and I feel great about it,” Etienne said, via the team’s website. “I feel like it’s going to help me maximize my opportunity, maximize my skillset, so I feel like coach knows what he’s doing. He’s doing what’s best for the team and I feel like it’s going to work out really well. Football is a game of matchups. I feel like I create a problem outside for a linebacker. We’re just trying to get the best matchups for us to go out there and make plays and do what’s best for the team. I feel like if I really hone in on my skills and just keep working at it, work on my route running ability and really focus in on what the plan is and buy into that, we’ll make plays; we’re playmakers.”
It likely doesn’t hurt Etienne’s cross-training that he and quarterback Trevor Lawrence have so much familiarity with one another from college. Etienne caught 97 passes the last three years, so Lawrence should continue to be comfortable throwing the ball in his direction.