An offensive player for the Clemson Tigers was recently selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in a NFL Mock Draft.
It was a special season in 2024 for the Tigers. The program was able to bounce back after a disappointing campaign in 2023 with a 10-win season that resulted in another ACC Title.
Fortunately for Clemson, the future is looking bright, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Quarterback Cade Klubnik is coming back for his senior season and could be one of the best players in the entire country.
Also, the talented wide receiver corps for the Tigers led by Antonio Williams will be one of the best units in the country with freshman Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore entering their sophomore seasons.
One player who the offense will miss though is running back Phil Mafah. The senior running back played what ended up being his last game with the program against the Texas Longhorns in the College Football Playoff.
Unfortunately down the stretch, he was dealing with a lingering shoulder injury that just never got right at the end of the year.
Now, the talented running back will be trying to make it to the next level in the NFL. Recently, in a complete seven-round mock draft from Pro Football Network, they had the Tigers running back being drafted in the fifth round by the Las Vegas Raiders.
After a bad season in 2024, the Raiders have cleaned house and are looking to rebuild with Tom Brady coming in as part-owner. While quarterback is the biggest need for the team, there are some other areas that they can look to improve upon as well.
Running the football was an issue all season for Las Vegas. As a team, they totaled 1,387 rushing yards and a poor 3.6 yards per carry average. Alexander Mattison was their leading rusher with just 420 rushing yards on the campaign.
Coming into the season it was Zamir White who was expected to take over for Josh Jacobs as the starting back. However, he started the year slow and also didn’t perform all that well before he got injured.
Taking a flyer of Mafah in the fifth round makes a lot of sense for Las Vegas. Even with the shoulder injury, he was able to total over 1,000 rushing yards last season for the Tigers.
While Mafah may never become a star in the league, he was a strong runner for Clemson and was able to produce some impressive stats in his senior season. For a fifth-round flyer, the Raiders could do a lot worse.
