Bhayshul
Tuten.
Bhayshul
Tuten.
Virginia Tech· 5'9"· 206 lb· 4.32s 40
"A compact, explosive back whose legitimate kick-return equity and downhill burst against ACC competition carve out an immediate NFL role despite the inconsistent pass protection and ball security."Pre-draft read
Compact, dense-framed one-cut runner who lived on gap and duo concepts at Virginia Tech and profiles as a change-of-pace weapon plus core kick returner. Plays with a low pad level and true stop-start ability: he presses the line square, plants hard off the front foot and gets north with almost no gather steps, hitting creases that close on longer-striding backs.
The separator is the second gear. Once he clears the second level, the top-end speed is genuinely elite and turns modest gains into explosive plays. He runs harder than his size suggests through arm tackles, but the game is built on angles and burst rather than sustained tackle-breaking. Pass-game role is checkdowns and swings; protection is willing but unfinished.
Gap/duo-heavy rushing attack with defined early-down committee roles
Year 1: rotational change-of-pace back and primary kick returner. Ceiling: 1B in a two-back committee handling 10-12 explosive-play carries per game.
A wide-zone offense that asks the back to be a patient, one-cut third-down protector and route-runner on 60 percent of snaps — the stress-test reps are pass pro and late-developing creases, both of which he loses.
Value is maximized when a team already has a three-down starter and needs speed plus return equity behind him.
Bhayshul Tuten 2024 Regular Season Highlights
Full 2024 Virginia Tech reel: gap runs, second-level burst and the long touchdown speed.
Virginia Tech RB Bhayshul Tuten | 2025 NFL Draft Tape
Cut-up focused on pad level, one-cut decisiveness and contact balance against ACC fronts.
Bhayshul Tuten Highlights | Welcome to the Jaguars
Pre-draft package released around his selection at pick 104 by Jacksonville.
Tuten is a two-level projection: an FCS producer at North Carolina A&T who transferred up to the ACC and answered the question about whether the speed and efficiency were real. He is not a three-down bell cow build, but the burst, contact tolerance and return value give him a defined NFL job on day one.
The production backs the tape. He posted 1,363 yards at 6.6 per carry in his final A&T season, then averaged 5.0 and 6.3 in two years at Virginia Tech, finishing 2024 with 1,159 yards and 15 touchdowns in 11 games. He was also a legitimate return threat, taking two kicks to the house as a junior at 28.9 per attempt. The flags were just as clear: ball security wobbled at times, the pass-protection reps were inconsistent against blitz pressure, and the receiving usage was mostly manufactured rather than route-based.
The board had him as a top-10 back in a deep class, generally a late day-two or early day-three value, with the 4.32 forty and 40.5-inch vertical pushing him up boards after the Combine. Jacksonville taking him at 104 was a bet on juice and special teams equity behind an established starter, not a bet on volume.
- 01
Elite long speed
a 4.32 forty that shows up on tape, with a finishing gear that turns second-level creases into 40-yard runs against ACC defenses.
- 02
Explosive lower half
the 40.5-inch vertical translates to real short-area burst; he plants and accelerates without wasted gather steps at the line of scrimmage.
- 03
Compact contact tolerance
thick lower body at 5-9, 206 and consistently low pad level, so arm tackles and glancing shots rarely knock him off track.
- 04
Efficiency at scale
averaged 6.3 yards per carry on 183 attempts in 2024 and 6.6 on 208 carries at North Carolina A&T, so the explosiveness was not a small-sample fluke.
- 05
Return value
28.9 yards per kick return with two touchdowns in 2023 gives him a defined special-teams job while he waits for offensive snaps.
- 01
Ball security
put the ball on the ground more than a rotational back can afford, and the issue followed him from the FCS level to the ACC.
- 02
Pass protection
willing to step up but the technique and anchor lag; blitz pickup and stunt recognition were the reps that kept him off third downs.
- 03
Receiving polish
usage was swings, checkdowns and screens rather than an actual route tree, so the pass-catching projection is unproven.
- 04
Vision in traffic
presses fast but can outrun his blocks and default to the crease he saw pre-snap instead of the one that opens late.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.32sp50
- Vertical
- 40.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 130inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- 4.41sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | RecYds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | North Carolina A&T | 11 | 7 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | North Carolina A&T | 11 | 208 | 1363 | 13 | 31 | 342 |
| 2023 | Virginia Tech | 13 | 173 | 863 | 10 | 27 | 239 |
| 2024 | Virginia Tech | 11 | 183 | 1158 | 15 | 22 | 79 |
| Career | — | 46 | 571 | 3438 | 38 | 80 | 660 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- Kyron DronesQB24%
- Keylen AdamsWR14%
- Ali JenningsWR12%
#4 of 13 tracked contributors · Production leaned on volume · Offense explosiveness 1.28 (p54) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Productive, dense-framed rotational back with a defined early-down and special-teams role rather than a workhorse profile.
Same speed-first, compact build that grew into a heavy committee share once the pass-game reps caught up.
Athletic complementary back whose snaps stay capped by protection reliability and ball security.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Jacksonville took him at 104 with Travis Etienne entrenched, and the rookie year played out exactly as that depth chart suggested. Tuten appeared in 15 games without a start, carrying 83 times for 307 yards and five touchdowns at 3.7 per attempt, adding 10 catches for 79 yards and two scores. The bigger role was on special teams: 19 kick returns for 539 yards at 28.4 per return, three of them past 40 yards. He also fumbled twice, losing one, which is the exact issue that limited his snap share when games tightened.
One season is not a verdict, but the shape of it is instructive. The long speed showed up in flashes and on returns; the efficiency did not, because a rotational back running into loaded fronts on early downs rarely gets the clean second-level looks his college tape was built on. The pass-protection and ball-security notes from the evaluation are the two things standing between him and a real committee share. If he cleans those up, the burst is good enough to force snaps. If he does not, this is a returner who spells the starter.