Clemson football: Replacing Travis Etienne is going to be a group effort

Travis Etienne is considered by many to be the best running back in Clemson football history and it would be hard to argue otherwise.

Etienne played four seasons in the Clemson football program and during that time rushed 686 times for 4,952 yards (7.2 YPC) and 78 total touchdowns. He set the ACC record for all-time yardage and touchdowns and is the leader in all kinds of career areas for Clemson.

Now, for the first time in four years, the Tigers won’t have Etienne at their disposal.

His consistency, workhorse ability and explosiveness will be missed and the truth is that you’re not going to just plug-and-play a talented running back at the position and replace Etienne.

Clemson football will replace Travis Etienne by a group effort

You don’t lose the best running back in program history and get better, but the Tigers certainly have the ability to have a big-time season from that running back position as a whole.

Though we don’t necessarily see anyone rushing for 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns this season, what we do see is a RB by committee taking place that helps emulate the production of Etienne.

Clemson has veteran Lyn-J Dixon penciled in as the starter, but he is getting pushed heavily by Kobe Pace, who has made a major run throughout the spring. Those two guys are going to be a major part of this year’s offense, but they won’t be the only running backs we see.

We’ve already seen the talent and skill set of 5-star freshman Will Shipley and 4-star freshman Phil Mafah during spring and there’s no way the Tigers are going to keep those guys off the field.

When you look at that four-headed monster, combined with the fact that 4-star Chez Mellusi and 3-star Michel Dukes are still on the roster as well, you get the sense that the Tigers are going to be just fine at running back. Oh, and we didn’t even mention veteran leader Darien Rencher.

It’s not going to be a ‘plug-and-play’ approach to replacing Etienne. Instead, it’s going to be more like ‘plugs-and-play.’

Expect several running backs to get carries throughout this 2021 season and the result will be an efficient and explosive effort.