Travis Etienne Drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars
Former Clemson running back Travis Etienne has been selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round, with the No. 25 pick of the NFL Draft.
Etienne has been critical to head coach Dabo Swinney's success over the last four seasons. He left Clemson as the school and Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time leading rusher with 4,952 career rushing yards.
Etienne joins teammate Trevor Lawrence, who the Jags took first overall earlier Thursday night.
The former No. 9 in orange and white was a two-time consensus All-American (2018, 2020). Etienne also holds a plethora of conference records as a two-time ACC Player of the Year (2018, 2019), ACC All-Time rushing touchdowns leader (70), ACC Career Touchdowns Leader (78), ACC All-Time yards from scrimmage leader (6,107), and finished with a record typically held by kickers as the conference's all-time points leader (468).
Etienne also finished as the NCAA's all-time leader in total games with a touchdown (46). The Jaguars are getting a player who didn't begin as the versatile option at Clemson he can now offer to an NFL team and can only continue to improve in pass protection and route-running.
Etienne leaves Clemson with some massive totals, finishing his tenure with 6,107 total yards on a total of 788 attempts on the ground and through the air and averaging a substantial 7.2 yards per carry in his four years with the Tigers.
Strengths: Etienne's strength is the reason mock drafts have had a difficult time placing him, as it is the biggest difference between him and his top overall running back competition Najee Harris. Etienne has learned to excel in the passing game and the power run game, and his career will go as far as his multi-faceted ability takes him.
Weaknesses: One of the biggest knocks on Etienne throughout his scouting process is that he too often tries to bounce a run outside instead of taking the hole given to him. With his top-level speed in college, it may not have been as prominent of an issue, but not taking runs in between the tackles professionally could end up losing Etienne yards more often than not.
