Clemson Tigers Star Running Back Lands Just Outside of Top 50 in Draft Board

The Clemson Tigers running back is stellar play up NFL draft big boards, nearly cracking the top 40.

Oct 12, 2024; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Clemson Tigers running back Phil Mafah (7) during the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers star running back has seen a breakout season thanks to his increased role and people around the NFL are starting to take notice.

Phil Mafah is entering his fourth season with the Tigers. While he's been a solid back and a fan favorite during his career, people have wondered how that success will translate to the next level.

Back in April, former Clemson star Will Shipley fell into the fourth round of the draft to the Philadelphia Eagles after being the star of the Tigers offense for three seasons. That's with his ability to catch the ball in the mix.

What does that mean for Mafah, who only broke out last season and has been more of a one-dimensional back?

Before the season NFL Mock Draft Database, which compiles all of the data around mocks, saw the Georgia native projected as an undrafted free agent in their consensus big board.

Fast forward a couple of months and the 6-foot-1, 215-pound back has been better than ever in his new and more focused role in the offense.

Mafah has run the ball 105 times this season for 682 yards with six touchdowns. He still isn't much of a threat in the passing game, picking up just eight catches for 42 yards so far.

He's had at least 18 carries in each of his last three games and has reached the century mark twice and scored four touchdowns in that time.

The Draft Network recently updated their big board to reflect the changes they've seen in players this season and Mafah is all the way up at No. 51 in the rankings. He's the sixth-highest-ranked running back.

"Mafah is a sturdy, punishing running back with good open-field speed to gash defenses after wearing them down throughout a game. He has the frame and skillset to become an NFL offense’s RB1,” says his scouting report from Damian Parson.

Much like the Clemson offense over the last year fews, a lot of the top NFL running back rooms have guys with opposite play styles that compliment each other.

The most obvious example comes from the Detroit Lions' electric offense that features David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. The duo has recently adopted the nickname 'Sonic and Knuckles' to highlight their differences.

Given the playstyle that Mafah offers, he figures to be much more of the thumping back that Montgomery is for the Lions.

In a copycat league, it would not be too surprising to see a team take the Tigers product early in an effort to replicate Detroit's success.