Jaguars running back Travis Etienne soon won’t be the only member of his family touting the rock for an NFL team.
After three successful seasons at the collegiate level, Georgia running back Trevor Etienne looks to amplify the family name and solidify himself as a top running back prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Trevor Etienne’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 5’9″
- Weight: 205 pounds
- Position: Running Back
- School: Georgia
- Current Year: Junior
Scouting Report
Etienne grew up in Jennings, Louisiana, and starred as a running back for Jennings High School. A consensus four-star recruit in the 2022 graduating class, he finished his senior year with 1,344 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. He committed to Florida amidst a heated recruiting battle, which included interest from his older brother’s alma mater, Clemson.
As a true freshman, Etienne was able to carve out a nice niche for himself in Florida’s offense. In 2022, he had 118 carries for 719 yards – giving him 6.1 yards per carry – and six rushing touchdowns. He was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team for his efforts. He split the backfield with fellow 2025 prospect Montrell Johnson Jr., as well as dual-threat quarterback and 2023 first-round pick Anthony Richardson.
The 2023 season brought another year of a running-back-by-committee approach for Florida, with Etienne once again splitting carries out of the backfield. His workload increased slightly, as he ended the year with 131 carries for 753 yards and eight touchdowns. He also caught 21 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown after having just nine receptions in 2022. After the season, though, he entered the transfer portal and signed with Georgia a few weeks later.
With some really encouraging flashes and a noticeable last name, Etienne was the recipient of some 2025 NFL Draft buzz heading into the 2024 season. As is typically par for the course with the Bulldogs, though, he found himself in another committee backfield, this time paired predominantly with freshman Nate Frazier.
Despite a career-low 609 rushing yards on 122 carries, Etienne had a career-high nine rushing touchdowns in 2024. He also took on a bigger role in the passing game, catching 32 passes for 194 yards and finishing fourth on the team in receptions. After initially deciding to return to Georgia for his senior year, he declared for the 2025 NFL Draft after the season.
Strengths
- Will be only 21 years old in his NFL rookie season.
- Intelligent processor with good vision as a ball carrier between the tackles.
- Has the wherewithal needed to identify open running lanes and the short-area quickness to explode through them.
- Does a good job of varying his tempo out of the backfield as he processes in the box and accelerates once he finds the open hole.
- Shifty runner with quick footwork and sharp movements coming out of his cuts.
- Capable of making smart moves out in space, as his vision at the second level and beyond allows him to make creative cuts with more field area to work with.
- Runs with a low center of gravity, which helps him change direction and can help him bounce off of tackle attempts.
- Sure-handed receiver out of the backfield who has a career drop percentage of just 1.9%.
- Elusive after the catch as a receiving back, as his creative vision and his agility make him a difficult player to catch up to.
- Offers very good breakaway speed when he hits top speed in the open field.
Weaknesses
- Has never been the bona fide top running back in his backfield at the collegiate level.
- Much larger sample size as a zone runner than a gap runner, which could make him a tougher fit for teams that prefer the latter.
- Arrested in March 2024 for DUI and reckless driving.
- Smaller running back who doesn’t offer tremendous length or overall mass for his position.
- Doesn’t deliver much pop in his shoulder pads when he engages with tacklers at the point of contact.
- Though his pad level as a runner is good, a generally lighter lower half can still see him get brought down at the first sign of contact.
- Inconsistent as a short-yardage back due to his smaller frame and lack of top-notch power in his style as a runner.
- Smaller frame can come back to hurt him as a pass protector, as he gets pushed around and displaced a bit too often as a blocker.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Etienne may never have been the undisputed big fish in the collegiate backfields he played in, but he still showed plenty of NFL-level talent in the SEC.
He has the ball-carrier vision to make plays in the NFL, both in between the tackles and in the open field. He brings above-average athleticism to the table, helping him break away for big gains and making defenders miss in space. It’s clear he’s an athletic back, but it’s his abilities in between the ears that allow him to better maximize those tools.
While the speed and vision are enticing with Etienne, he’s not an entirely well-rounded prospect. He’s undersized for the running back position, and that’s reflected in a lack of top-notch play strength and physicality. He’s hardly the type of back to run defenders over, and while his pad level is ideal, his lower half likely isn’t strong enough yet for him to consistently bounce off of defenders at the NFL level.
Whichever team selects Etienne will likely prefer a zone-heavy philosophy running the ball, given that’s where his strong suit is. He never ended up becoming a bell-cow back at the collegiate level like his brother, but there’s still plenty to like in the younger Etienne’s game. Rounds 5 or 6 feel like a reasonable range for him in the 2025 NFL Draft.
