The Clemson football program received a 10-star commitment when Travis Etienne announced he’d be returning, but that could spurn another transfer.
Over the past week, Clemson football has seen three players- Chase Brice, T.J. Chase and Xavier Kelly– announce that they’d be transferring out of the program as graduates.
The Tigers may not be done yet.
Clemson football RB Travis Etienne announced that he’d be returning for his senior season, which was absolutely a huge deal for the program. Etienne has already won two ACC Player of the Year awards and will be one of the front-runners for the Heisman Trophy in 2020.
With his return, though, the running back room will be a little cramped coming into this season.
As a result, many Clemson football fans are expecting to see a transfer of some kind from the running back position. Lyn-J Dixon was expected to be the starter coming into this year- his junior season- and could potentially seek a transfer option to play his remaining eligibility elsewhere as a starter.
The Tigers also have two sophomores- Chez Mellusi and Michel Dukes– who were expecting to battle for the second-string position. Though both of those guys would still have two years of eligibility following this season, it may be a situation where they see the two guys behind them, especially 5-star RB Demarkcus Bowman, and go ahead and make a decision.
The truth of this matter is that nothing has been confirmed at this point, but it’s tough for any program to stockpile talent at a position. Athletes want the opportunity to play and you can’t fault them when they do make a decision.
If Clemson football maintains the majority of these running backs for 2020, the Tigers will have the deepest group of ball-carriers in the country. It will be interesting, though, to see how it plays out over the course of the next few months.