Heading into fall camp, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was admittedly in wait-and-see mode with newcomer Lyn-J Dixon.
However, after just three practices, including one in shells on Monday, Swinney has seen enough to be highly impressed with the talented true freshman running back.
“I wanted to hold judgement until I saw him in pads and saw just how he was going to respond over there in inside (drills) with Dexter (Lawrence) and Christian (Wilkins) and those cats, and he didn’t back down,” Swinney said after Monday’s practice. “He’s got some bite to him. So, I’m really encouraged with him.”
Dixon, who signed with Clemson over Oklahoma State in December, joined the team in June with the seven other members of the Tigers’ 2018 class that did not enroll early in January (Justyn Ross, Jordan McFadden, Justin Mascoll, Jake Venables, Kyler McMichael, Mario Goodrich, B.T. Potter).
A former four-star prospect, Dixon amassed more than 7,000 all-purpose yards and had 88 total touchdowns during his career at Taylor County High School in Butler, Ga. Those tallies include 5,174 rushing yards and 73 rushing touchdowns in 37 career games.
Despite being limited by an injury as a senior, Dixon managed to score 13 overall touchdowns while averaging 108 yards per game and 8.9 yards per carry in six games. As a junior, he ran for 35 touchdowns and 1,914 yards on 229 carries (8.4 yards per carry).
Early in camp, Dixon has shown Swinney why he was such a dynamic playmaker in high school. The 5-foot-11, 192-pound frosh has impressed Clemson’s head man from a mental standpoint as well.
“I was very pleased with him the first two days, just his quickness,” Swinney said. “He’s got natural vision. That little sucker can scoot, man, and he’s picking things up pretty good.”
Swinney isn’t the only one who has been pleased with Dixon thus far in camp.
Clemson co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Tony Elliott also doled out praise for Dixon following the team’s first practice on Friday.
“It validated what I thought I saw in the recruiting process and the film,” Elliott said. “I’ve compared him to (Andre) Ellington. He’s got a very good, quick first step. He’s a natural runner.”
Dixon was ranked as the No. 10 running back in the country coming out of high school by ESPN, which tabbed him as the No. 171 overall prospect in the 2018 class.
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