On his Always College Football show, ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy offered up who he sees as the top 10 running backs of the College Football Playoff era, which began with the 2014 season.

Checking in at No. 9 on McElroy’s list is Clemson’s Travis Etienne, who put together one of the most prolific careers in Clemson, ACC and college football history across the 2017-20 seasons.

A three-time first-team All-America honoree and back-to-back ACC Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019, Etienne rushed 686 times for 4,952 yards with 70 rushing touchdowns and caught 102 passes for 1,155 yards and eight receiving touchdowns over 55 career games (42 starts), while helping the Tigers to four ACC titles, four College Football Playoff berths, two national championship appearances and a national title.

McElroy gave his breakdown of Etienne, the ACC career record-holder for rushing yards (4,952), total touchdowns (78) and rushing touchdowns (70).

“In a slight surprise at No. 9, Travis Etienne comes in at No. 9,” McElroy said. “As a true freshman, he actually led Clemson in rushing despite not starting any of the games that he appeared in. 107 carries, 766 yards, about seven-plus per carry, and 13 touchdowns. Also added a little bit in the passing game as well. But, he got better as time went on, and surprised everybody by coming back in 2020. I think that was a shock to most of us. But he was a second-team AP All-American, ACC Player of the Year in 2019, and brought them back in the national title game with 1,600 yards and 19 touchdowns on just 207 carries. That was about 7.8 per. But like I said, 37 passes caught in his second-to-last year for 432 yards and four scores. So, he became an elite player. Obviously a (national champion) and a guy that was amazing there for the Clemson Tigers.”

Of course, Etienne went on to be selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round (25th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. He has racked up 2,133 rushing yards, 792 receiving yards and 17 total touchdowns over the last two NFL seasons after missing his entire rookie season in 2021 with a Lisfranc injury.

Here is McElroy’s list of the top 10 running backs of the CFP era:

10. Royce Freeman, Oregon
9. Travis Etienne, Clemson
8. Leonard Fournette, LSU
7. Dalvin Cook, Florida State
6. Nick Chubb, Georgia
5. Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
4. Saquon Barkley, Penn State
3. Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State
2. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
1. Derrick Henry, Alabama

You can check out McElroy’s commentary on each of those players below:

A limited number of signed footballs from Clemson’s 2022 class are still available.  Get yours while supplies last!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!