College Football: Top 30 skill position players for 2019 season

The battle for the top running back in college football is certainly more competitive than the battle for top receiver. As of right now, I’m going to give the slight edge to Travis Etienne out of Clemson.

Etienne is just a nasty running back. He’s impossible to tackle, and he works well both in between the tackles and on the outside. In two seasons, he has scored 39 total touchdowns, with 26 of them coming in his sophomore season.

Last year, Clemson had to rely on the running game early. As they transitioned from Kelly Bryant to Trevor Lawrence, the reliability of Etienne was incredibly valuable. No matter what the situation was, he could make a play. This became clearly apparent when Lawrence went down against Syracuse. With Lawrence out, Etienne finished the game with over 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Without him, they would have probably lost that game.

This year, Clemson will be incredibly talented on offense. No matter where the ball goes, it will be in the hands of a star. No matter how good Lawrence and the wide receivers are, though, they will certainly be giving Etienne his fair share of carries late in games.

I’m not sure if Etienne will rush for over 1,600 yards again like he did last season, but he will certainly have an impressive stat line. With him, Clemson is in prime position to try to repeat as national champions. Expect Etienne to have another big year for the Tigers.