College Football: 5 running backs who’ll contend for Heisman Trophy in 2020

It’s still hard to figure out why Travis Etienne chose to come back to Clemson for his senior year. He had another tremendous year, but saw drops in total yardage, yards per carry, and touchdowns a year ago. Trevor Lawrence, the man who takes all the headlines away from Etienne, is still in town, and he’s only gotten better.

Additionally, Etienne improved as a pass-catcher, which essentially rounded out his skill set in terms of his NFL Draft prospects. For the tailback, there’s not all that much left to prove.

However, questionable decision aside, Etienne is still one of the nation’s most electric backs. He led the nation a year ago, averaging 7.8 yards per carry, down from his 8.1 in 2018. 22.7 percent of his carries went for 10-plus yards in 2019, the highest rate in the nation. That begs the question, if those types of numbers don’t bring home a Heisman Trophy, what will?

Perhaps the rushing game will be a bigger part of the plan after the injury to Justyn Ross, but even that feels unlikely. Even without the top Tiger wideout, there are a host of weapons that Lawrence will have at his disposal.

There’s no doubt about Etienne’s skill and production as a tailback, and he’s absolutely deserving of a successful trip to New York. It is discouraging, however, that he’s only finished seventh and ninth in Heisman voting in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

What more can Etienne do in 2020 to prove deserving of the award? Average 10 yards per carry?

To put it simply, Etienne will have another fantastic campaign this season. Whether or not he’s adequately recognized is the question.