Greg McElroy identifies Clemson's biggest needs in transfer portal

Greg McElroy has high expectations for Clemson in 2025. However, there’s still room for improvement. Earlier this month, the ESPN analyst identified the team’s biggest needs in the transfer portal this offseason.

“I am really bullish on what Clemson might be this year. There are very few questions on the roster, and that’s awesome,” McElroy said. “The one position that I excluded from that discussion is at running back.

“You lose Phil Mafah to the NFL Draft… I think having depth at that position will be advantageous for Clemson moving forward. Problem is the guy that was expected to potentially be the guy this upcoming year was Jay Haynes. He got hurt in the ACC Championship game returning a kickoff.

“They’re kind of banking their hopes on Gideon Davidson. That’s a true freshman running back, which, by the way, that’s a position where you can step right in from high school and be highly effective. We’ve seen that happen a million times. So I wouldn’t put it past Gideon Davidson, who’s extremely talented and is a big time recruit, I would not be surprised if he steps right in, has a tremendous freshman year.”

Phil Mafah had a team-high 1,115 rushing yards last season. The next closest running back on the team was Jay Haynes, who recorded just 295 yards in the ground game.

Haynes suffered a torn ACL on Dec. 7, and his status for the upcoming season is unclear. Even if he does return, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be at full-strength. Thus, the Tigers need to bulk up their running back room.

One way the program tried to address this issue was by converting wide receiver Adam Randall to running back this offseason. While this decision might prove successful, McElroy still believes the team needs more depth at the position.

Specifically, McElroy would like to see Clemson find a running back in the transfer portal. Clemson has only added three players via the portal this offseason. None of them are running backs.

“When I look at the running back spot, I feel a lot more comfortable if I have two, three or four guys at that position,” McElroy said. “It would be beneficial for Clemson if they could add a running back this cycle to go ahead and do that, just for some proven depth and for some true, proven contributions.”