Elliott will have to make interesting decisions in camp

Though he comes into fall camp with plenty of depth and with a returning starter who finished second in the ACC in rushing last year, Tony Elliott should have a few questions asked to him on Tuesday when he meets with the media for the first time this summer as part of Dabo Swinney’s Media Golf Outing.

The main question will be about Clemson’s second running back. We all know Wayne Gallman will be the Tigers starting tailback when camp gets underway in a few weeks. Gallman rushed for a school-record 1,527 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2015.

In the spring, Adam Choice appeared to have emerged as the Tigers’ No. 2 running back after missing all of last season due to an ACL injury he suffered halfway through the 2014 season. By the end of the spring, Elliott said Choice finally looked like the running back who earned the starting job before his injury. He was running with confidence again and was making cuts and showing the agility he needs to be a productive running back at the college level.

However, Choice came out of camp listed as to co-No. 2 with Tyshon Dye. Elliott told us late in the spring, Dye has not looked this good since his first got on campus. He lost weight, was playing hard and was running with more of purpose. Remember, Dye came to Clemson as a polished running back. He has good vision and explosion through the hole. His No. 1 issue has been his health, plus his willingness to work hard all the time. It seems he is now on the right path and both Elliott and Gallman mentioned how much time Dye has been putting in to be a better player and running back.

Behind Choice and Dye, is sophomore C.J. Fuller. The coaching staff has always had high praise for the Easley High School product and that continued in the spring. Fuller always runs with determination and he seems to be ready to roll when his number is called. However, in the spring, Elliott said he wanted to see a little more from Fuller. One of the questions on Tuesday will be about this issue and what Fuller did in the summer to go with his position coaches’ advice.

If I had to guess, though, most of the questions at The Reserve on Lake Keowee on Tuesday will be about five-star running back Tavien Feaster, who got on campus last month. Dabo Swinney has compared the freshman to C.J. Spiller.

One of the questions will be, with so much depth at the running back position and with one of the ACC’s best running backs already in position, “How do you get Feaster on the field?” Elliott will have to explain how they will use the talented running back, who can catch just as well as he can run, and when in the open field he has the ability to make people miss and get up field.

Though the running back position is very healthy, it should be an interesting conversation with Elliott.