Jacksonville Jaguars Running Back Depth Chart — 2026

A handcuff is the backup who inherits the starter's workload if the starter gets hurt — so the Jaguars handcuff is whoever sits directly behind Bhayshul Tuten on the depth chart above. Rostering him is how you protect a starting back you have already spent a pick on. More on what a handcuff is.

LeQuint Allen is Jacksonville's passing-down back. He played 31.1% of the team's pass snaps against 21.9% of its snaps overall — a tilt of +9.2, the widest in the room — on 201 pass snaps. Bhayshul Tuten, the presumed lead back, played 15.5%.

There is less to protect here than the depth chart suggests, because nobody in this room held a lead role last season. Tuten played 18.8% of the snaps, 66th among running backs.

Chris Rodriguez has the most convincing running record of anyone here, and it was earned in Washington: +0.69 yards over expected per carry, 14th of 49 qualifying backs, on 24.9% of that team's snaps. His availability is the caveat — 28 of 51 team games across 3 seasons, 54.9% — and the reporting below has him yet to practise with the team at all.

Allen played 21.9% of the snaps, more than Tuten. Ameer Abdullah's availability line comes from Indianapolis: 77 of 85 team games. J'Mari Taylor has no 2025 record.

A genuine three-way split, and the snap shares are closer than the pecking order implies.

Allen played 21.9% of the snaps, 61st among running backs. Tuten played 18.8%, 66th. Rodriguez played 24.9% in Washington.

None of those is a starter's share. The lead role in this offence went to a back who is no longer on the roster, and what the beat is reporting below is a room competing to fill it rather than a hierarchy already settled.

Yes, and he is not the back the depth chart leads with.

Allen took 201 pass snaps, 31.1% of the team's — 48th among running backs — against 21.9% of snaps overall. That tilt of +9.2 is the signature of a back who comes on when the offence throws.

Tuten's share runs the other way: 15.5% of pass snaps, 71st, on 18.8% of snaps.

The qualification that matters: Allen's presence on those downs has been about protection rather than targets. He drew 11 in 16 games, 0.69 a game — under the 25 needed for a receiving rate to mean anything. So the snaps are his; the targets have not been. The reporting below is about whether that second half changes.

Reporting from a previous season, kept because a role a player has already held is the best evidence available about the one he might hold next. It describes 2025, not now.

Allen carved out a role as a pass-blocking and special teams contributor as a rookie in 2025, and Coen praised his toughness, physicality and third-down runs. (Sports Illustrated (Jaguar Report), 2026-07-22)

What the beat is reporting, last refreshed 2026-09-06. Nothing here is measured — it is reporting, attributed and dated.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. underwent a procedure on his left foot during the offseason program, first reported by Ryan O'Halloran of the Florida Times-Union, and was expected back for the start of training camp (Pro Football Rumors, 2026-06-10).

Head coach Liam Coen said he knows Rodriguez will be full go come training camp, after Rodriguez missed OTAs and the start of minicamp, and described the backfield as a wide-open room (Sports Illustrated (Jaguar Report), 2026-06-09).

Bhayshul Tuten took the bulk of the first-team running back work through the spring while Rodriguez was sidelined, and Coen said he liked how Tuten ran it this spring compared with last year (Jaguars.com, 2026-06-03).

As of the day before camp, Rodriguez had missed the entire offseason program and had not yet practiced with Jacksonville, with his debut date the room's central unknown (Sports Illustrated (Jaguar Report), 2026-07-26).

Coen said Rodriguez brings added thump to the backfield to help secure hard yards, complementing the styles of Tuten and LeQuint Allen (Sports Illustrated (Jaguar Report), 2026-06-09).

Jaguars beat writer John Shipley framed LeQuint Allen's path to a bigger role as expanded passing-down duty, noting Rodriguez does not bring a passing-game profile (Sports Illustrated (Jaguar Report), 2026-07-26).

Coen cited Allen's college pass-catching at Syracuse as an area to develop into a larger receiving role in the offense (Sports Illustrated (Jaguar Report), 2026-07-22).

Travis Etienne Jr. departed in free agency, vacating the lead back job, and Jacksonville signed veteran Ameer Abdullah as a pass-catching and return contributor (Pro Football Rumors, 2026-06-10).

A pre-camp depth chart listed Tuten as the starter, Rodriguez behind him and Allen third, calling the room one of the biggest battles on the roster (Sports Illustrated (Jaguar Report), 2026-07-20).

A subsequent depth chart update during camp moved Abdullah up to the fourth running back spot, with DeeJay Dallas and J'Mari Taylor no longer listed on the chart (Sports Illustrated (Jaguar Report), 2026-08-14).

An unofficial preseason depth chart released during training camp listed Tuten and Rodriguez as co-starters, with offensive coordinator Grant Udinski describing the run game as handled by committee (Jaguars.com, 2026-08-21).