Lost amidst some high-profile additions on National Signing Day was a bit of additional attrition for Clemson.
Dabo Swinney confirmed Wednesday that redshirt sophomore tight end Shadell Bell and redshirt junior running back C.J. Fuller have both decided to transfer from the Tigers. Per the head coach, both players will remain in classes at the university until they graduate this spring. As grad transfers, the players would be eligible to compete immediately with another FBS program.
The fact that Clemson’s two leading rushers from 2017 -- freshman Travis Etienne (766 yards) and junior Tavien Feaster (669) -- return in 2018 likely led Fuller to decide to spend his final season elsewhere.
Last season, Fuller, who began the year as the starter, was fifth on the Tigers with a career-high 217 yards and three touchdowns. He’ll finish the Tigers portion of his playing career with 599 yards and four touchdowns on 147 carries, as well as 18 receptions for 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
One of those touchdown catches came in the College Football Playoff semifinal win over Ohio State in 2016.
Bell, meanwhile, leaves with one reception for eight yards, numbers he posted in 2017.
Fuller and Bell are at least the fifth and sixth Tigers to leave the program this offseason. Two quarterbacks, Zerrick Cooper (HERE) and Tucker Israel (HERE), and a pair of defensive linemen, Sterling Johnson (HERE) and Jabril Robinson (HERE), have previously been confirmed as having left Swinney’s program.