2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Clemson RB Will Shipley

From now until the 2023 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections, and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Clemson RB Will Shipley.

#1 WILL SHIPLEY, RB, CLEMSON – (JUNIOR) 5110, 206 POUNDS

MEASUREMENTS

THE GOOD

— Great athlete when it comes to speed, strength, and explosiveness
— Has good long speed and can accelerate quickly when hitting the hole
— Possesses the wiggle to make defenders miss in open space
— Has the contact balance to stay upright on body shots
— Displays moments of impressive cutting ability in the hole to get to green grass
— Does a good job stacking moves on top of each other as the run progresses
— Runs hard behind his pads between the tackles
— Skilled pass catcher out of the backfield on screens and angle routes
— Does a great job snapping off his routes at the top of his break
— Can challenge linebackers and safeties down the seam as a receiver
— Shows willingness as a pass protector
— Has carried the load in the backfield as well as worked in a committee backfield
— Skilled kick returner averaged 26.2 yards per return in college

THE BAD

— Lacks true feature-back size
— Runs hard, but doesn’t tend to push the pile forward
— Vision can be hit and miss at times, Shipley failing to see cutback lanes opening up
— Doesn’t possess that second gear as a runner
— Tends to duck his head and plow forward, limiting his vision on inside runs

BIO

— Junior prospect from Weddington, N.C.
— Born August 29, 2002 (age 21)
— Brother, James, played lacrosse at Penn from 2020-23
— Completed a microinternship at National Football League headquarters in New York in spring of 2022
— Raised and presented a $10,000 check in May 2022 to Levine Children’s Hospital
— Earned degree in management in December 2023 with a perfect 4.0 GPA
— Two-time ACC Honor Roll selection (2021-22), three-time All-ACC Academic Team selection (2021-23)
— Four-star prospect by Rivals, rated as the No. 1 all-purpose running back
—  Rushed for 2,066 yards on just 188 carries (11.0 yards per rush) and scored 31 rushing touchdowns; also had 34 catches for 582 yards and nine receiving touchdowns in 2019, leading team to a state championship
— Under Armour All-America Game, Gatorade Player of the Year in North Carolina
— Also was a standout in track and lacrosse in high school
— Started five of 10 games in 2021 and rushed 149 times for 738 yards with 11 touchdowns; caught 16 passes for 116 yards; averaged 27.1 yards on 14 kickoff returns and threw a two-yard touchdown pass
— Started 14 games in 2022 and rushed 210 times for 1,182 yards and 15 touchdowns and caught 38 passes for 242 yards; returned 14 kickoffs for 324 yards (23.1 average)
— Played in 12 games with eight starts in 2023 and rushed 167 times for 827 yards with five touchdowns and caught 31 passes for 244 yards with two receiving touchdowns; seven kickoff returns for 200 yards
— 2023 permanent team captain, first-team All-American (2022), first-team All-ACC (2022)

TAPE BREAKDOWN

Will Shipley has been an elite producer at whatever he set his mind to since he was a young kid. He excelled at football, track & field, and lacrosse, earning college scholarship offers in lacrosse as well, but chose football as his passion to pursue. He also was extremely driven in the classroom, finishing both high school and college with a 4.0 GPA while finishing his degree early and completing an internship with the NFL while raising money for charities in the Charlotte area as well as at Clemson.

When you pop in Shipley’s tape, you see a gifted athlete who excels both as a runner as well as a receiver out of the backfield. He is a natural pass catcher who can run routes out of the backfield as well as leak out into the flat on screen passes and check-down routes, routinely beating linebackers and safeties tasked with covering him as you can see in the clips below against Florida State. Using the angle route in the final two plays to beat the coverage, he gets into the end zone in the final clip.

Not only can Shipley work the short and intermediate portions of the field as a pass catcher, but he can also stretch the field vertically from the backfield or split out in the slot. Check out this rep below against UNC where Shipley takes off down the seam from the backfield. Stacking the defender vertically, he manages to come back to the underthrown ball after beating his defender down the field to make the catch. The explosive play sets up the Clemson offense inside the Tar Heels’ 10-yard line.

Besides being a skilled pass catcher, Shipley also is an accomplished rusher, having the speed, burst, and acceleration to rip off long runs after he gets into open space. Check out this play against Syracuse where Shipley takes the handoff up the middle, then breaks it to the right where he sees a wide-open running lane. After getting into the secondary, he angles to the sideline, stepping out of a tackle attempt by the safety to finish in the end zone.

Shipley demonstrates some impressive lateral quickness and change-of-direction ability as a runner when approaching the line of scrimmage or setting up defenders in the hole, making explosive cuts laterally to evade defenders and get into open space. Check out the two plays below as Shipley makes an explosive cut and puts his shoulder down in the first clip to pick up additional yardage on the explosive run. In the second clip, Shipley sneaks through two defenders as he passes the line of scrimmage.

Shipley may be a tad undersized when it comes to weight of a feature back, but he still runs hard behind his pads and displays good contact balance when it comes to bouncing off defenders. Check out this clip against South Carolina where Shipley fights through multiple tackle attempts as he takes the carry up the middle. Cutting right through the teeth of the defense, he finishes in the end zone for six.

Still, Shipley doesn’t possess that raw power as a runner to push the pile forward. He also has a bad tendency to drop his head when running between the tackles, limiting his vision to make necessary cuts into open space instead of running right into contact. We see Shipley get stood up in the first clip below on the short-yardage situation, failing to keep his legs churning to pick up the additional yard needed to move the sticks. In the second clip against the Seminoles, we see Shipley start to bring his head down as he approaches the line of scrimmage on the inside run. He fails to notice the gap opening to his right where he could cut back to get into the second level of the defense.

CONCLUSION

Will Shipley is a well-rounded player who has produced both as the feature back in 2022 as well as in a committee in 2023 as both a runner, receiver, and kick returner. He lacks ideal power and that extra juice as a home run hitter, but he does nearly everything well. He should be a quality back in a committee in the league at worst while being able to shoulder feature-back duties if called upon to do so.

When coming up with a stylistic pro comparison for Shipley, it was hard not to think of Christian McCaffrey and Aaron Jones. Both backs are skilled pass catchers who don’t have ideal size, but still run hard behind their pads and have the speed to hit the home run as well as the elusiveness to make defenders miss in space and make those explosive cuts to get into the open field. Both backs possess a little bit more juice than Shipley, but with Jones being a former fifth-round pick, I could see Shipley going in the middle rounds as well and starting his career as a rotational back like Jones did in Green Bay, being more efficient on limited carries while having the ability to shoulder a heavy workload if needed.

Pittsburgh doesn’t really need a back high in the draft, but Shipley has met with RB Coach Eddie Faulkner, who has maintained a good relationship with him since high school, being one of the first to offer him a scholarship when Faulkner was at NC State. Pittsburgh could use a quality pass-catching back, and should Shipley be there on Day 3, the value may be too good to pass up with the team needing to make a decision on Najee Harris’ fifth-year option by early May.

Projection: Day 3
Depot Draft Grade: 7.9- Potential Starter/Quality Backup (3rd Round)
Games Watched: vs North Carolina (2023) vs Florida State (2023) vs Syracuse (2023)