A national outlet recently released its early running back rankings for next year’s draft.

Clemson star Will Shipley came in at No. 7 in Pro Football Focus’s early 2024 NFL Draft running back rankings.

“Shipley has been on NFL radars for a few years now, but the 2024 cycle will be the first where he is draft eligible,” PFF’s Trevor Sikkema wrote. “He has an elusive running style, proving slippery through tacklers. That is evidenced by his 5.5 yards per carry average. He also has nice contact balance.

“You can tell he’s just a natural athlete with his body control, and you see that in his 3.4 yards after contact average. Throw in good receiving ability with 53 receptions over the past two years, and the skill set is versatile and alluring.”

Shipley enters the upcoming campaign with 1,920 yards and 26 touchdowns on 359 career rushing attempts and 358 yards on 54 career receptions over 24 career games (19 starts). He also enters 2023 credited with 27 career kickoff returns for 704 yards (26.1 avg.) as well as one pass attempt for a 2-yard touchdown.

The North Carolina native made an instant impact as a freshman in 2021 and followed that up with a 2022 season in which he became the first player in ACC history to be selected as a first-team All-ACC honoree in three different categories (running back, all-purpose and specialist), and he was one of four finalists for the Paul Hornung Award (nation’s most versatile player).

Shipley joined Clemson’s Travis Etienne, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and North Carolina’s Giovani Bernard as the only ACC players to rush for 11 or more touchdowns in both their freshman and sophomore campaigns since 2000.

Florida State’s Trey Benson tops PFF’s early 2024 NFL Draft running back rankings, while Michigan’s Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen, Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Oregon’s Bucky Irving round out the top six ahead of Shipley.

The 2024 NFL Draft is scheduled to be held in Detroit from April 25–27.

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