Name: Travis Etienne

School: Clemson

Year: Sr

Position: Running Back

Measurements: 5”10”, 205 lbs

Stats: 

General Info:

Travis Etienne was a 4-star running back coming out of Jennings High School in Jennings, Louisiana. Ran for 2,459 yards as a senior and scored 39 total touchdowns. Ran a laser-timed 4.38 40-yard dash in high school. Etienne chose Clemson over offers from the likes of Alabama, Oregon, and Texas A&M.

Etienne was Clemson’s leading rusher each of his 4 years in college, including two 1,600+ yard seasons. He also caught 85 passes over his final two seasons. He would finish his astounding college career with over 4,900 yards rushing, a 7.2 yards per carry average, 70 rushing touchdowns and over 100 receptions and another 8 touchdowns. He was the 2018 and 2019 ACC Player of the Year and a Consensus All-American as a senior as an all-purpose athlete.

Position Skills:

Lightning quick. He has elite explosiveness that makes him a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Etienne goes from standing still to top speed in an instant, showing rocket-like acceleration. He is also a very shifty back, great at finding cutback lanes at the line of scrimmage as well as in the open field.

Etienne shows surprising power as well. He sports a similar build to Aaron Jones, with a powerful lower body and great leg drive to break tackles. He was used in a variety of ways by Clemson, going in motion, in the screen game, and lining up wide. He shows natural hands while catching passes and the ability to catch the ball while in the flow of the play and turn up field. He was also used sporadically as a kick returner, finishing his career with an average of just over 22 yards per return.

There are a few things that Etienne needs to clean up in his game. He needs work in his pass protection technique. He showed a willingness to block in the pass game at Clemson, but he sometimes started too high and was overpowered. He also had a puzzling stretch his senior season where he fumbled in 4 straight games. This is likely an outlier though, as he didn’t fumble the final 3 games of the season and only put the ball on the ground 4 times in his first three seasons.

Fit with the Packers:

Etienne would be a perfect fit in Green Bay. He is very reminiscent of Aaron Jones, although he has more top end speed. He is a slashing running back that catches very well and is adept at being split out wide and being used in the motion game. Assuming Jones doesn’t return, Etienne would provide the perfect lightning to AJ Dillon’s thunder. Due to the devaluation of running backs in the draft, Etienne likely will be available at pick #29. The Packers could likely trade back into the early second round at grab him. Here is the issue with that: do they spend a second-round pick on a running back 2 years in a row? With presumed needs as cornerback, offensive tackle, and defensive line, I would think that would be unlikely. That being said, if Etienne is a Packer, he fills a probably departed Jones’ role quite well.