Halfway through the regular season, Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is pleased with where true freshmen running backs Chez Mellusi and Michel Dukes are at from a developmental standpoint.

“Each week, I see them just doing things that are giving me confidence,” Elliott said this week.

Mellusi and Dukes have each played in four of the Tigers’ first six games, logging a total of 36 and 35 snaps, respectively.

Dukes has rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts, averaging 5.1 yards per carry, while Mellusi has 145 yards rushing and a touchdown on 18 carries (8.1 average).

“I think Chez is running the ball hard. You can see that,” Elliott said. “He still has to get a feel for the scheme sometimes and the patience associated with it.”

Mellusi and Dukes haven’t gotten many chances to show what they can do yet, as they remain behind Travis Etienne and Lyn-J Dixon on Clemson’s depth chart.

However, the two frosh have both flashed glimpses of their potential while continuing to improve each week, and Elliott believes they’re ahead of the game for first-year players.

“I’m starting to see that things are slowing down a little bit for them, and I would say for freshmen, they’re probably ahead of where a lot of freshmen are,” Elliott said. “But they’ve still got two really good guys in front of them, and you’re still trying to get Lyn-J reps. So, it’s tough to get those guys in there, but I was glad that they were able to get in there (against FSU) — both had like 10 to 12 plays apiece. So, that was good.”

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