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Adam Choice broke off a pair of 65-yard scoring runs in Saturday’s scrimmage, finishing as the team’s leading rusher with 169 yards and three scores.

As Clemson moves past the midway point in its preseason preparations, it’s perhaps apropos that Choice is making the later surge toward the second-string running back job as his recovery from a torn ACL marches on.

“It’s been a long process,” he said. “But I feel like I’m back.”

Expectations have always been high for Choice, who was ranked No. 109 nationally by Rivals.com in the 2014 class.

His ball-carrying ability just looks natural and effortless – a reflection on his superlative vision, balance and compact stature.

Yet his road back from the knee injury suffered in October 2014 has been a slow one. He redshirted last season as Clemson’s depth afforded him the opportunity to continue working toward rebuilding his range of athletic capacity.

He exited the spring lumped in with Tyshon Dye and C.J. Fuller in the competition for carries behind starter Wayne Gallman, and the picture grew more muddied with the arrival of tantalizing freshman Tavien Feaster.

“We’ve got some dogs back there,” Choice said. “Everybody wants the job and we’re competing hard and pushing each other. We’ll see how it goes.”

There hadn’t appeared to be substantial separation through two weeks of practice until Choice made his scrimmage statement. And considering co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott suggested Saturday’s showing provided a “reshuffling” of the deck, it’s fair to speculate Choice might not have been the leading candidate to date.