The back of Travis Etienne Jr.’s jersey is a normal sight for defenders, especially during his time as a Clemson Tiger, but it’s translated smoothly to the NFL. The Jaguars had to wait a year to see the explosion when he missed his rookie season, but it was worth the wait when he eclipsed 1,000 yards in his true rookie campaign.

NFL.com’s Nick Shook ranked the most explosive runners in the NFL and Etienne made the top 3. It’s an important detail that this isn’t limited to running backs. He made the No 3. spot using NFL’s Next Gen Stats.

Explosive score: 90

10+ yard runs: 26

10+ pct: 11.8%

15+ mph runs: 56

15+ mph pct: 25.5%

After a foot injury sidelined Etienne for his entire rookie year, he came back ready to contribute to Jacksonville’s turnaround campaign in 2022. Instead of languishing in the nightmare that was 2021 for the team, Etienne and Co. started fresh under Doug Pederson, who wasn’t afraid to use the Clemson product’s versatile skill set to propel the Jaguars.

The results were fantastic: 1,125 rushing yards (5.1 per carry) and five touchdowns. Etienne added another 316 yards as a pass-catcher, bringing his yardage total close to 1,500 for the year. Much of this ranking, though, is built on Etienne’s ability to hit full speed with the ball in his hands. Etienne tied for the second-most runs at 20-plus mph among qualified runners with six, trailing only Justin Fields. Add in 13 gains of 10-plus yards over expected, and you have one of the NFL’s most explosive runners of 2022. Not to mention, he’s only getting started.

The former Tiger ran a 4.40 40-yard dash at his Pro Day and the speed translates to the NFL field. Reaching 15 mph on over a quarter of his runs, he reaches top speed with the best of those in the NFL. While the numbers shine, the touchdowns didn’t stack up in 2022 which was the only outlier for the Jacksonville bell cow. Heading into 2023, there’s no reason his explosiveness shouldn’t translate into even more scores.