Clemson Football: 5-star Demarkcus Bowman will compete for starter reps

5-star Clemson football signee Demarkcus Bowman is an explosive running back with the ability to be a homerun threat anytime he carries the ball.

The 2020 Clemson football recruiting class picked up a gem when 5-star RB Demarkcus Bowman committed to the Tigers several months ago.

Since then, Bowman has held true to his commitment and signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday during the Early National Signing Period.

With his official signing, it’s clear to say that Clemson football picked up a commitment from a running back who is coming in with the intent of competing for starter-level reps as a freshman.

Clemson doesn’t typically play freshman running backs all that much. Tony Elliott has stuck to a philosophy of giving the veteran the benefit of the doubt and making the underclassman earn his opportunities. We’ve seen that this season with the handling of Chez Mellusi and Michel Dukes.

We even saw it in the past during Travis Etienne’s freshman season when he started out third on the depth chart and had to slowly work his way up.

While Bowman likely won’t start out as the first-string running back, he’s going to compete and make the other running backs in the room better as a result.

When Bowman touches the ball, he has the capability of reeling off a huge run. He will likely be the fastest pure runner in the RB room this coming season and for years to come. As a result, the Tigers are going to look for a way to get that speed and explosiveness into the game.

Lyn-J Dixon will be the starter and it will be expected that Chez Mellusi is listed as the second-string. Bowman will be competing with sophomore Michel Dukes and fellow freshman Kobe Pryor for the third-string spot and then an opportunity to move up the depth chart and compete as the season progresses.

At this point, there’s no reason to believe he won’t do just that and be a significant factor for the Tigers heading into the 2020 Clemson football season.