While some people were critical of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ selection of former Clemson running back Travis Etienne in the first round (25th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft, former Jags running back and current NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew is not one of those people.
Jones-Drew is a fan of Etienne and approves of Jacksonville’s decision to take him in the first round despite already having a standout running back on the roster in James Robinson, who was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team in 2020.
Jones-Drew sees similarities between the versatile Etienne — one of only 12 players in FBS history with 4,000 career rushing yards and 1,000 career receiving yards – and Carolina Panthers do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey.
“This is the thing. I thought the Jags were in a great position to draft best available,” Jones-Drew said to Jaguars team reporter Ashlyn Sullivan. “Obviously Trevor Lawrence is your first pick, you have an opportunity to get best available once they were at 25, and Travis is sitting there. And you saw his career, you saw how explosive he was, how versatile he was. You see a lot of possibly Christian McCaffrey in there, and so you want to have that because you see what the Panthers look like with Christian and without him. So, if I can get something similar or close to that, I want that.
“So, I thought it was an awesome pickup. Yes, it may take away from James’ touches a little bit, but that’s OK. It’s about winning here, and I think this city is ready for that. I think Urban (Meyer) is bringing a ton of positivity, a ton of excitement, and that draft pick shows that he wants to win. Yeah, we have some other holes. But we want to be more athletic, we want to be faster, more explosive, and that’s what we’re getting here with Travis.”
.@MJD is ready to watch No. 1 ball out on Sundays.@swaggy_t1 | @Dream_Finders
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) August 11, 2021
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