SUNSET, S.C. — Tony Elliott was not shy Tuesday when he was asked why Travis Etienne is his No. 1 running back on the preseason-depth chart.

“He is the most consistent in terms of the big play,” Clemson’s co-offensive coordinator said prior to the start of Dabo Swinney’s media golf outing at The Reserve at Lake Keowee.

Last year, Etienne had four plays over 50 yards, scoring on three of them. It was the most Clemson has had by a running back since C.J. Spiller in 2009. According to Elliott, those big plays continued in the spring and it was just too much for the coaching staff to overlook.

Etienne will start fall camp as the No. 1 guy with Tavien Feaster No. 2, along with senior Adam Choice.

“Obviously he is still a young guy and has some things he has to improve with pass protection,” Elliott said about Etienne. “When he came into fall camp (last year) he was the explosive guy. From the time he touched the ball, he was very productive. We talked about and looked at production, and his production was above the other two. That is why he is the guy at the top of the list right now.”

However, Clemson’s running back coach says Feaster is close and they will play both running backs similar to what they did last year. Elliott said the job is still open and how the two perform the rest of summer and in preseason camp will determine who the starting running back will be and how they will use them during a game.

“The biggest thing with Feaster is we’ve got his body where it needs to be,” Elliott said. “It was tough for him coming out of high school when he hurt his shoulder. We had to put some weight on him to protect himself. He was a little bit too heavy, so he lost a little bit of weight.

“Coming out of the spring we said, ‘let’s try to drop our body weight down to about 215.’ He’s been carrying that here consistently for the past couple weeks.”

Now the biggest thing for Feaster is staying consistent with his weight and his performance every day.

“Now he is in the best condition he has been in since he got to campus, so I’m excited to get him on the grass,” Elliott said. “He’s been fully committed and doing everything that you ask. He’s doing the little things day in and day out.”

Clemson begins fall camp on Aug. 2. The players report on Aug. 1.

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