There’s no question that the Jacksonville Jaguars had one thing in mind when they selected former Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten in the fourth round of this year’s draft: speed.
Tuten, who spent his final two years in college at Virginia Tech, was one of the fastest players in the 2025 NFL Draft after running a blazing 4.32-second 40-yard dash. The time was the fastest among running backs at the NFL Combine and ranked fifth overall among all players who ran.
Often compared to Miami’s De’Von Achane, Tuten can take one cut and explode down the field with ease. Tuten’s on a mission, now, to see if his speed can translate to the next level. He’s confident it will.
“Not really worried about it. I know I’m fast. People know I’m fast. So, just gotta go out there and play football. I get a gaping hole, I can hit it. So, we’ll see, you know, when the season rolls around, how far I can break and how many times I can break away from the defense,” Tuten said in May.
At 5-foot-9, 209 pounds, Tuten isn’t the largest back on the roster by any means. He’s the shortest back on the roster by an inch (Travis Etienne, 5-foot-10), but his strength is noticeable and size won’t matter much if no one can catch him.
His new running backs coach, Chad Morton, has already been impressed by the rookie, too.
“He’s really fast,” Morton said with a smile in June when asked what he’d seen from Tuten in the first few weeks of the offseason program.
“He can run, real excited for him. Just the way he runs, really easy for him. It’s simple. He’s a smooth mover in and out of cuts and stuff like that. So, it’s just fun to watch him as a runner,” Morton added. “When guys are just natural runners, they just make it look really easy and almost look like they’re just kind of jogging and they’re still running really fast.”
If you recall, last year, receiver Brian Thomas Jr. received similar evaluations. Fans, media and observers alike concluded early that perhaps he wasn’t running full speed at practice. Yet, Thomas consistently broke away from players then and continued to do so during the season.
He’s simply a natural runner, much like Tuten.
What can Bhayshul Tuten do to earn playing time for Jaguars?
As indicated before, barring a change in tune by the organization, it appears RB Travis Etienne is still slated to be the team’s starting back.
However, how long he continues to be the team’s bellcow remains to be seen. The Jaguars invested heavily in their running back position this year, with fourth- and seventh-round picks being spent on the position.
Still, for rookie backs to earn playing time, they must offer more than just being able to run well and fast. They need to know how to block, how to catch and how to bring more to the table than simply breaking off sprints to the end zone.
For Tuten, learning to be versatile is key to his development. He said in May that he’s excited to showcase his ability to do more than run.
“I know it can help the team in multiple ways,” Tuten said when asked about adding pass-catching to his arsenal. “I’m a running back that doesn’t just run the ball, I can get back there on special teams, catch kicks. I can split out and run routes out the backfield and catch and be productive that way as well. So, I think my skillset works best for the team and I’m just excited to go out there and show that.”
During the media availability portion of practice in May, Tuten regrettably dropped a pass before returning quickly to re-run the route and make the catch. It’s a simple concept, but it also sheds a bit of light on the mentality of the young rusher.
“I dropped the ball, it’s football, it happens. You just got to lock in on the details for the next one. Like you said, I caught the next one. Still got to get up and finish, keeping it eyes-to-tuck and clamping. No one likes to make mistakes. So, when you make the mistake, you figure out how you did it and you correct it,” Tuten explained.
He added that he goes by a phrase called “circle of a snap,” meaning that no matter how good or bad your play was before, you’re onto the next play. “Make that play your best play,” he added.
Another part of his game that he must master is pass protection. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen explained in June that while Tuten has done a nice job, he still has a lot of work to do in that area, as expected.
“From protection systems in college to the pros, that’s usually where you see some of the tempo slow down for them – playing slower, thinking more – is when pass-pro starts to kind of bog the mind,” Coen said in June, explaining that teaching the “why” for backs to learn several variations of footwork that pair with pass proection can slow down a back in that phase of the offseason.
“Especially when it’s a tag and people are in awkward positions. When you’re trying to stick your foot in the ground and get vertical to run through them, you can’t. It’s awkward. I think he’s done a solid job. I know he needs a lot more work, which all those guys do,” Coen said.
Tuten has a ways to go, but his confidence, running ability and speed will get him on the field sooner rather than later. For him to control the backfield, he’ll need to accelerate his learning in two pivotal areas, including catching the ball and protecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Why Jaguars rookie RB Bhayshul Tuten should be under spotlight during training camp
Reporting by Demetrius Harvey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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