Travis Etienne is a bit of a smaller running back but he has the speed and shiftiness to more than make up for his size deficiency. He’s a great receiving back with pretty advanced receiving skills and he should bring a 3 down element to any offense he’s brought into. 

Strengths: 

  • Incredibly Shifty

Travis Etienne is shifty enough to bounce from side to side to avoid tacklers. He’s a very electric player.

  • Great Contact Balance

Travis Etienne is able to bounce off of tackles and keep going while being relatively unphased. His contact balance is truly amazing and one of the best parts of his game.

  • Good Long Speed

Travis Etienne has long speed that allows him to turn solid chunk gains into extremely explosive plays that finish in the end zone.

  • Solid Acceleration

Travis Etienne hits his top speed and hits holes pretty quickly because of his great burst. I expect him to test well in the 40 time.

  • Good Vision

Etienne has great vision that’s very consistent and he rarely if ever misses easy openings that are there. At times he can see when holes are about to open up and he has a good feel for where second level defenders are.

  • Amazing Receiver

Travis Etienne looked like a receiver in the passing game. His route running ability is extremely advanced and he has solid hands as well. 

  • Adds Value in Return Game

Travis Etienne is going to have special teams value as well mainly in the return game because of his shiftiness, speed, and vision.

Weaknesses: 

  • Smaller Back

Travis Etienne is just 5’10 205 lbs making him one of the lighter backs in the league. If he’s going to hold up over the course of multiple years he may need to bulk up a bit. His smaller frame also hurts him in short yardage situations.

  • Doesn’t Create for Himself

Travis Etienne needs a hole from the offense line to do anything with the play. If the play is completely boxed up Etienne doesn’t have the elite ability to shift across the formation to find a gap, or the ability to push forward and get a decent gain.

  • Bad in Pass Protection

Travis Etienne is a smaller guy and because of this he’s not the greatest in pass protection. He gets pushed around by bigger guys and occasionally he gives minimal effort to bump rushers.

  • Tendency to Drop if Pressured

Travis Etienne is a great receiving running back no questions asked but when he’s about to be hit he has a tendency to get anxious and drop the ball.

Player Comp: Alvin Kamara seems like a lofty comparison for Etienne however, at his ceiling I definitely think that Etienne has the potential to be as good as Alvin Kamara. He has that elite shiftiness that a guy like Kamara has and he’s also a great route runner with solid hands like Kamara. The vision and contact balance is also there although Etienne is a bit smaller though, and he also doesn’t have the patience of Kamara yet.

Final Thoughts: Travis Etienne is a very good running back and it was hard for me to decide whether to have him or Najee Harris as the best running back in this year’s draft class. They’re both insanely good players but I think Etienne is just a step below Najee Harris. I think Etienne is a mid second round guy and one team that I love for Etienne is the Jets, who could really use some speed injected into their offense.