Ten Most Important Tigers in 2024: Running back Phil Mafah

Phil Mafah moves into the RB1 role fully this season.

TigerNet Staff - Tuesday, July 02 2024

We're assembling the ten players key to a Clemson football resurgence this season.

Our list isn’t simply the best ten players on the roster but those who either have big shoes to fill or the potential to launch Clemson into a spot to contend.

On to No. 4 in the countdown, running back Phil Mafah:

4) Phil Mafah - Graduate Senior (Running Back)

Grayson Mann

Clemson’s running back room has a new leading man.

For the last three years, the Tigers have mostly been led by Will Shipley, who recorded 2,747 yards and 31 touchdowns before heading to the NFL. Despite this, he only started eight games in 2023, allowing a new leading man to run the show.

In Shipley’s absence, Mafah was finally able to display his ability with a full arsenal of snaps to play with. His moment came against Notre Dame, where “Mafah from Loganville” rushed for 186 yards and two scores. Against all the noise that led up to that matchup with the Irish, Mafah’s performance became the loudest voice in the room.

He finished the 2023 season with 179 attempts, 965 yards, and 13 touchdowns. This included a four-touchdown performance against Kentucky in the Gator Bowl, taking over after Shipley suffered a knee injury early on.

Mafah’s five starts in 2023 were a glimpse into what he brought to the table as the feature back, and the Tigers will need that and more heading into the fall. With not too much experience behind the graduate senior, Mafah will have to carry the load in a big way for the rushing attack to be a dynamic threat in 2024.

David Hood

Feed that man. Feed. That. Man.

That has been my refrain on social media the last few seasons, imploring someone, anyone, to listen to me and give Mafah the ball. During his first season on campus, he had one game with double-digit carries when he had 17 against woeful UConn.

During his second season, that number was bumped up to two (and no surprise, he had over 100 yards in one of those and was six yards shy in the other). Last season, he tallied 11 carries against Duke in the opener and 10 against FSU, but overall carried the ball just 57 times for 355 yards in the first seven games.

Over the season's final six games, he carried the ball 122 times for 610 yards and got better as the season progressed.

With Shipley off to the NFL, Mafah is the guy. He has inexperienced backs behind him, and it’s easy to imagine a scenario where he earns 18-20 carries per game. Or is it? Since 2016, years that included the great Travis Etienne, only twice did a Clemson back average 15 carries per game or more - Wayne Gallman (15.47 in 2016) and Shipley (15.00 in 2022).

History tells us that Mafah won’t get a ton of carries in the Clemson offense. To that, I say, feed that man.

Ten Most Important Tigers in 2024 Countdown

10) Center Ryan Linthicum

9) Linebacker Sammy Brown

8) Freshman WRs TJ Moore and Bryant Wesco

7) Cornerback Avieon Terrell

6) Wide receiver Antonio Williams

5) Defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart