Factoid

April 21, 2021

Travis Etienne

Play in space a plus for Clemson back

There seem to be three reasonable candidates to be the first running back drafted -- maybe only two. Alabama's Najee Harris, Clemson's Travis Etienne and perhaps North Carolina's Javonte Williams; those are the players most frequently mentioned. In rookie drafts, you'll most likely be weighing Harris or Etienne.

All three can be considered at least potential three-down backs. Harris (6-2, 230) and Williams (5-10, 220) are bigger than Etienne, who showed up at 5-foot-10 and 215 pounds at his pro day, but is listed at 205 at the Clemson Tigers website and 210 elsewhere. Etienne has the best receiving stats (37 and 48 catches the last two seasons), but Harris also caught 43 balls last year, and Williams 25. How big a role each will have in the passing game might be greatly influenced by landing spot -- winding up with a team that prefers a full-time back or a specialist in passing situations.

Focusing too much on landing spot, however, can result in costly mistakes. Last year the Bucs drafted KeShawn Vaughn in the third round, and he drew a lot of interest in early drafts on the idea he'd fill a James White-type role in Tom Brady's offense. Not that anyone knew Leonard Fournette would become available, but I think you need to evaluate players first, then consider how landing spot might affect usage.

In any case, Etienne has the best timed speed of the three, running a 4.40 40 at his pro day. Harris didn't run, and finding a trustworthy 40 time is elusive. Probably 4.50 is reasonable (I'm not putting any stock in an Alabama publication saying he runs a 4.45). Williams ran a 4.55 at North Carolina's pro day.

Etienne's 48 receptions went for 588 yards, which is 12.3 per reception. That's a decent amount better than Harris (9.9), although only slightly better than Williams (12.2) -- albeit on twice as many receptions. I pulled the final year of college numbers for all running backs drafted in the first two rounds over the last 10 years, who caught at least 20 balls in their final year of college. Only five averaged more yards per reception than Etienne, and all have been credible receivers in the NFL (Jacobs probably would be, if the Raiders gave him the opportunity). Granted, the guy just behind him hasn't amounted to anything in the pros.

RB YARDS PER RECEPTION, FINAL YEAR OF COLLEGE (DRAFTED RDS 1-2)
Year	Rd	Player	School	Run	No	Rec	Avg	Tot	TD
2017	2	Dalvin Cook	Florida State	1765	33	488	14.8	2253	20
2017	2	Joe Mixon	Oklahoma	1274	37	538	14.5	1812	16
2010	1	C.J. Spiller	Clemson	1212	36	503	14.0	1715	16
2011	1	Mark Ingram	Alabama	875	21	282	13.4	1157	14
2019	1	Josh Jacobs	Alabama	640	20	247	12.4	887	15
2021	?	Travis Etienne	Clemson	914	48	588	12.3	1502	16
2015	2	Ameer Abdullah	Nebraska	1611	22	269	12.2	1880	22
2021	?	Javonte Williams	North Carolina	1140	25	305	12.2	1445	22
2010	2	Montario Hardesty	Tennessee	1345	25	302	12.1	1647	14
2018	1	Saquon Barkley	Penn State	1271	54	632	11.7	1903	21
2012	1	Trent Richardson	Alabama	1679	29	338	11.7	2017	24
2014	2	Bishop Sankey	Washington	1870	28	304	10.9	2174	21
2020	2	J.K. Dobbins	Ohio State	2003	23	247	10.7	2250	23
2013	2	Giovani Bernard	North Carolina	1228	47	490	10.4	1718	17
2021	?	Najee Harris	Alabama	1466	43	425	9.9	1891	30
2020	2	Jonathan Taylor	Wisconsin	2003	26	252	9.7	2255	26
2010	1	Jahvid Best	California	867	22	213	9.7	1080	16
2011	2	Shane Vereen	California	1167	22	209	9.5	1376	16
2012	1	Doug Martin	Boise State	1299	28	255	9.1	1554	18
2020	2	D'Andre Swift	Georgia	1218	24	216	9.0	1434	8
2013	2	Eddie Lacy	Alabama	1322	22	189	8.6	1511	19
2017	1	Christian McCaffrey	Stanford	1603	37	310	8.4	1913	16
2020	1	Clyde Edwards-Helaire	Louisiana State	1414	55	453	8.2	1867	17
2012	2	Isaiah Pead	Cincinnati	1259	39	319	8.2	1578	15
2018	2	Kerryon Johnson	Auburn	1391	24	194	8.1	1585	20
2016	1	Ezekiel Elliott	Ohio State	1821	27	206	7.6	2027	23
2020	2	Cam Akers	Florida State	1144	30	225	7.5	1369	18
2011	2	Daniel Thomas	Kansas State	1585	27	171	6.3	1756	19
2012	1	David Wilson	Virginia Tech	1709	22	129	5.9	1838	10
2019	2	Miles Sanders	Penn State	1274	24	139	5.8	1413	9
2010	2	Ben Tate	Auburn	1362	20	105	5.3	1467	10
2013	2	LeVeon Bell	Michigan State	1793	32	167	5.2	1960	13

I don't know which of these three running backs will be selected first next week. Landing spot will certainly be a factor in outlook (if the Steelers take one, for example, that will be very intriguing). But I'll be interested in Etienne regardless, for his potential to make plays in the passing game wherever he winds up.

--Andy Richardson

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