Clemson Football: What to Expect from RBs in the summer 2019
What should Clemson football fans expect from the running backs during the summer? Here’s a look at the positional breakdown.
The Clemson football running back position took a hit earlier this spring when Tavien Feaster announced that he’d be entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Feaster was expected to be the second-string- or at least co-backup- behind Travis Etienne this season.
As we get into the thick of summer, here’s our positional breakdown and what Clemson football fans can expect from the running backs.
Summer Expectations: Running Backs
As far as depth chart is concerned, the first and second string backs are pretty much set. Travis Etienne will be the starter and Lyn-J Dixon the backup.
Behind Dixon, there are several options.
Darien Rencher will battle it out with true-freshmen Michel Dukes and Chez Mellusi. Both Dukes and Mellusi will arrive in July, so they’ll be on campus to take part in the tail-end of summer workouts. Dukes and Mellusi will have to quickly grasp the system and prove that they can be effective in pass-protection to win that third-string spot.
If not, we’ll probably see Rencher come in as the No. 3 running back and then go from there.
The main area that Etienne will need to improve is in pass-protection and making plays out of the backfield in the passing game. He is a hard runner and got a lot better in both of the mentioned areas throughout the season, but there’s always room for improvement.
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Dixon is going to surprise a lot of analysts this season with his running ability, but he’ll still need to prove that he can pass-protect to get increased playing time as the year progresses.
Overall, the running backs are considered to be one of the best groups in the nation, even without Feaster, and that will prove to be the case as we get into the 2019 season.