'So impactful': Travis Etienne is giving the Jaguars plenty to smile about through 5 weeks

In reality, Travis Etienne couldn't be happier with how he's playing right now.

In the Fantasy Football world, however, not so much.

Etienne last week garnered 37.4 Fantasy points, in some formats, against the Buffalo Bills.

Unfortunately for Etienne, his opponent had him, as he noted on social media.

Etienne rushed for 136 yards on 26 carries (5.2 yards per carry) and two touchdowns, including a 35-yard touchdown run late in the game to essentially give Jacksonville the victory. He also caught four passes for 48 yards, showcasing his receiving prowess.

Entering his third year with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Etienne has been one of the bedrocks for a struggling Jaguars offense. In five games this season, Etienne has rushed for 396 yards, good for the third-most rushing yards in the AFC and fifth-most in the NFL.

On Monday, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said it might have been the running back's best performance this season.

“He’s so impactful. In those third down spots, just to be able to run the football and pick up a first down. That’s sometimes for a defense, that changes the way maybe you call up the next time on third downs," Pederson said.

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Etienne converted three third downs, two on the ground, during the second half of the contest.

Jacksonville was faced with a third-and-one near the end of the third quarter leading 11-7 against Buffalo when Etienne converted for one yard to extend the drive, something Jacksonville has struggled with thus far this season.

His second third-down conversion on the ground was more significant. Etienne took the ball 10 yards on a third-and-five from the Buffalo 27-yard line, giving Jacksonville the opportunity to score. Two plays later, Etienne found pay dirt, giving Jacksonville an 18-7 lead with 7:44 remaining in the contest.

"Those are things that we’ve got to continue to improve, but Travis is definitely someone that we can lean on in the run game and the pass game to help us overcome some of those third downs. Overall, I thought Etienne had an outstanding, probably his best, game of the year," said Pederson.

Since being drafted in the first round in 2021, Etienne has rushed for 1,521 yards, good for the 10th-most rushing yards in franchise history.

If his numbers continue as projected he will finish this year with the fifth-most rushing yards in team history, surpassing quarterback Mark Brunell, and will be just a couple hundred yards from Leonard Fournette's career rushing yardage at 2,631 yards.

Travis Etienne leads league in forced missed tackles

Running backs typically have one "knack" they work off of. Etienne's knack this season is forcing missed tackles through elusion or pure brute force imposed on an unsuspecting defender.

Through five games, Etienne has forced 27 missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus, the best in the league. The next-best player in that category is Christian McCaffrey with 23 missed tackles forced.

As a result, Etienne is one of the top players in the league in yards after contact with 308, according to PFF. That is good for the second-best in the league behind McCaffrey, who has 357 yards after contact. McCaffrey is widely regarded as the best back in football right now.

Against Buffalo, Etienne forced an NFL-high 11 missed tackles. After the game, the star running back spoke about the Bills' defense and how committed to the run Jacksonville was. Ultimately, the Bills started to make some business decisions when it came to tackling the Jaguars' bell-cow.

"They were making tackles and you've just got to wear them down throughout the game, and wear them down, wear them down," Etienne said.

"We were able to do that, and those tackles they were making in the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, they don't make those tackles anymore. Guys start making business decisions and that's when you have to put your head down and keep running."

Thus far this season, Etienne has carried the ball 95 times for 396 yards (4.2 yards per carry) adding three touchdowns. He has 18 catches for 144 yards and is on pace to have more than his last season totals at 1,125 rushing yards and five touchdowns along with 35 catches and 316 yards.

Etienne's 10 broken tackles, according to Pro Football Reference are just four shy of his 2022 total (14). He will shatter that metric.

The third-year back is helping his team tremendously this year and it feels like he's just getting started.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X,  formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travis Etienne continues to shine with Jaguars, is a clear top-back