Summer Stock Report: Stallions lead the way at running back

Phil Mafah showed what he can do in the spring game in April.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun May 28 07:00:19 GMT-04:00 2023

Within the next few weeks, the players will return to campus, the rest of the 2023 recruiting class will arrive and move in, and summer workouts will begin. Where does Clemson stand at each position?

Today, we take a look at the running backs.

Clemson exited the spring with the running backs rotation pretty much as the same one it had entering the spring. In other words, it’s Will Shipley and Phil Mafah as two guys who deserve to play and everyone else vying for playing time.

Depth chart?

1. Will Shipley
1A Phil Mafah
3. Domonique Thomas
4. Keith Adams

Jarvis Green and Jay Haynes will join the team this summer.

Shipley is one of the nation’s most dynamic and versatile running backs who enters the 2023 season with 1,920 yards and 26 touchdowns on 359 career rushing attempts and 358 yards on 54 career receptions in 1,024 offensive snaps over 24 career games (19 starts). He also has 27 career kickoff returns for 704 yards (26.1 avg.) as well as one pass attempt for a two-yard touchdown.

He said recently that he expects to thrive in new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley’s offense.

“I’ve had some hurdles to get over with that so pumped about Coach Riley and things that I think are going to come to fruition this year and I’ll really be able to show people what I can do,” Shipley said. “Catching the ball out of the backfield, playing in the slot and just being able to create matchups anywhere on the field.”

Shipley then went on to say that he doesn’t think of himself as a running back. He’s just a football player.

“I don’t like to think of myself as (a) running back,” Shipley said. “But, at the same time, I don’t ever want people to think that I won’t take 20 carries in between the tackles. I love it. I love that stuff (and) I love getting hit, man. That’s what people don’t realize about me and you can ask my teammates, but I’m just crazy out there. Once I switch into that football player mode, I love every part of it.”

Mafah recorded career highs with 98 carries for 515 yards and four touchdowns and added nine catches for 48 yards in 308 offensive snaps over 14 games last season (one start). He enters 2023 having recorded 166 rushing attempts for 807 yards and seven touchdowns and 16 receptions for 98 yards in 478 offensive snaps over 23 career games (two starts).

Mafah thought about transferring during the offseason but said Clemson is where he wants to be.

“I could’ve been anywhere else, but this is just the place for me,” Mafah said during the spring. “I just realized where I really wanted to be and where God called me to be. After talking to my family and talking really to God, which is what matters most of all, I feel like, I came to the decision that this is where I want to be and this is where I originally wanted to be.”

Thomas was a first-team all-state selection at Ohatchee High in 2019 after rushing for 2,020 yards with 33 touchdowns. He then played six games at Union College in Kentucky in 2020, gaining 527 yards and scoring six touchdowns before deciding he’d like to chase a dream of playing at a “big-time school.”

Head coach Dabo Swinney likes what he sees out of Thomas.

“Obviously, we've got two stallions in Phil and Ship, but I’m glad y’all got a chance to see him (Thomas)," Swinney said. “He’s a big, thick kid, but he’s loose in the hips and he’s got great vision and he’s downhill. He’s a patient runner. He knows how to run the ball. He can help us. Domonique has shown that he can be a very dependable guy for us.”

Adams is the son of Keith Adams, the former Clemson linebacker, and he played five offensive snaps over two games appearances while redshirting last season.