Clemson football fans are going to be tuned into their televisions later this month when the 2021 NFL Draft gets underway.
There are several former Tigers who are expected to be drafted in this year’s event and the first one to come off the board will be none other than QB Trevor Lawrence, who is all but guaranteed to be the No. 1 overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars when it’s all said and done.
But what about behind Lawrence?
Who is the next Clemson football player to come off the board? Most NFL analysts believe that will be RB Travis Etienne.
What can Clemson football fans expect for Travis Etienne’s NFL Draft ceiling and floor?
The question that most Clemson fans are pondering is just how high we could see Travis Etienne taken in the draft. The consensus opinion from most draft experts is to not take a running back in the first-round, but there have been a few exceptions to that rule.
In most cases, though, we start to see the highest-profile running backs start to come off the board in the second-round and many even fall to mid-rounds before they hear their name called.
Travis Etienne’s ceiling
If you’re looking for the absolute highest that Etienne could climb, we would look at that No. 16 overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals have shown a lot of love for Clemson football players over the past year and Etienne could be the next one they take off the board.
Arizona is in need of a running back and many NFL Draft analysts have them taking one with that No. 16 pick, but Etienne is going to have to battle with Najee Harris and Javonte Williams to be the first running back taken and that spot still might see the Cardinals choose to go elsewhere other than running back.
Travis Etienne’s floor
So, how long could it be before we hear Etienne’s name called if it became absolute worst case scenario?
In the absolute worst scenario, Etienne would be the third running back taken off the board- behind Harris and Williams.
In the second-round, we’d be looking at teams like the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as potential suitors for a running back.
What’s the floor? We don’t see anyway in the world that Etienne falls past the Buccaneers with the No. 64 overall pick (last pick in the second-round).
We expect him to go way before then, but we don’t see any way that the Bucs pass on an explosive running back and pass-catcher if he somehow were to fall that far down the draft.
The most likely outcome
We just gave you five teams who will be actively looking for a running back in the draft and we would add a few others like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots as three more potential suitors to go after Etienne in Round 2.
The most likely outcome for Etienne is to be taken as one of the first prospects on Day 2. We don’t expect for him to draft too far outside of the top-10 of the second-round and there’s a chance he is even a late-first rounder (Buccaneers) or even the first pick taken in the second-round (Jaguars).
We expect he’ll go somewhere around Picks 29-40 when it’s all said and done.