This former Clemson star is headed to injured reserve.

The Dallas Cowboys are putting rookie running back Phil Mafah on IR due to a shoulder injury, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who noted that “the plan is for him to return during the season.”

Mafah ran for 59 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries this preseason.

The 6-foot, 234-pounder was taken by the Cowboys with the 239th overall pick in the seventh round of this year’s draft.

A punishing workhorse running back, Mafah earned third-team All-ACC honors as a graduate senior in 2024, when he rushed 216 times for 1,115 yards with eight touchdowns and caught 21 passes for 103 yards over 14 games (all starts).

Mafah was hampered all year by a preseason shoulder injury but still recorded the 24th 1,000-yard rushing season in Clemson history, and his 1,115 yards ranked 14th in a season in school history. He posted 981 rushing yards and eight touchdowns over the Tigers’ first nine games of the season before being severely limited down the stretch.

A former four-star prospect from Grayson High School (Loganville, Ga.), Mafah finished his Clemson career with 561 carries for 2,887 yards and 28 touchdowns, as well as 58 receptions for 309 yards over 50 games (21 starts) from 2021-24.

He finished his career ranked ninth in Clemson history in career rushing yards and tied for 10th in career rushing touchdowns.

–Photo courtesy of Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images