2. Travis Etienne, Clemson
Size: 5-10, 215
The Good: Ultra-productive, ultra-consistent, and good enough to be a steady star for one of the great four year runs by any college football school in the history of the sport, he finished as the ACC’s all-time leading rusher with 4,952 yards with 70 touchdowns.
There’s no questioning his running skills inside and out, he’s a great finisher when he’s around the goal line, and he improved as a receiver, increasing his pass catching production in each of the four years – he can do it all.
While he’s not going to blast away on anyone, he’s a hard runner who won’t shy away from contact, and he plays faster than he actually is – the 4.4 wheels are more than fine – with an extra burst once he gets into the open.
Wherever @ClemsonFB RB Travis Etienne lands in the @NFLDraft…
He'll make an immediate impact. 😤 @swaggy_t1
📺: 2021 #NFLDraft — April 29 – May 1 on NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/jZR3be6nrN
— NFL (@NFL) April 7, 2021
The Not-So-Good: He was just sort of okay last year. Yeah, he ran for 914 yards and averaged more than five yards per carry, and yeah, he did a whole lot more as a receiver, but he was bottled up a bit too often – he was stuffed in the first meeting with Notre Dame – and only got past 90 yards on the ground three times.
That’s totally nitpicking, but he took a whole lot of shots with close to 800 touches in his 55 game career. For good and for bad, there’s nothing finesse about his game – his physical style is going to take its toll.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: Has there been a more underappreciated superstar in college football history? He was a scoring machine, balanced things out as the Trevor Lawrence era got going, and even when he wasn’t getting the ball 20 times a game like last year, he was productively tough to go along with all the flash.
In a perfect world, he’s the Kansas City Chief starting running back, but he’d thrive in a place like Buffalo, too. He’s not going to be the Zeke Elliott or Derrick Henry bell cow guy, but that’s not important in the the modern NFL.
Projected Round: Second