Earlier in the week, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said there wasn’t much separation among the Tigers’ running backs, going as far as to say all of them were still in the mix to top the depth chart at that position.
That apparently wasn’t just coachspeak.
While Lyn-J Dixon and Kobe Pace have been getting the bulk of the first-team reps during fall camp, true freshman Will Shipley also got some carries with the first team during Clemson’s first scrimmage Saturday. It’s making for a tight competition to replace the ACC’s all-time leading rusher, Travis Etienne, who’s now in training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“They all got in there and got some work with the ones,” Swinney said.
Dixon enters his senior season with 208 career carries while Pace, a sophomore, had 23 touches (18 carries, 5 receptions) in limited playing time as a true freshman. Offensive coordinator Tony Elliott noted Pace had some impactful runs in the scrimmage, including one in the red zone where he pushed the pile for a touchdown.
“It was tough sledding today with what they were doing on defense,” Elliott said of the running game. “They had a bunch of guys around the box and playing aggressive, so we had try to do some different things — try to move the pocket, get the ball on the perimeter and use some RPO stuff.”
With the edge in experience, Dixon or Pace could be considered the favorite to be the first running back to take the field with Clemson’s offense in the season opener against Georgia on Sept. 4. But Shipley, who has consistently drawn the praise of coaches and teammates in camp for his speed and unusually advanced level of maturity for a first-year player, may be their stiffest competition.
The five-star signee, who’s been on campus since January, began camp rotating in with the second-team offense and has even gotten some first-team reps during certain team periods, but he’s not the only newcomer making an impression on Swinney and the rest of the coaching staff. Phil Mafah, another early enrollee who’s going through his second installation of the offense, repped mainly with the twos during the scrimmage, Swinney said.
Yet Swinney admitted Saturday wasn’t exactly the best situation in which to evaluate the backs and the running game as a whole. Clemson’s aggressiveness on defense was purposeful in trying to put D.J. Uiagalelei in uncomfortable situations in order to test the sophomore quarterback, so the passing game was more of the offensive focus in the first scrimmage.
That figures to change when the Tigers scrimmage again Thursday. Until then, the separation is likely to remain minimal in the backfield.
“Sometimes it’s a mixed bag because there are certain things you want to work on, and maybe it doesn’t match up to what you’re seeing on defense,” Swinney said. “Both sides are working on their stuff, you know? … So there were certain aspects we wanted to work on today.”
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