Back up the “ROY bus”, Clemson is going to fall flat on their face. Two first round draft choices left the offense and the Tigers are going to take a step back. At least, if you believe social media and fans of schools that have never sniffed the CFP. then Clemson will be lucky to even win it’s division.
Play it up, sports fans. Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne will be playing in Jacksonville, while the Clemson offense will “struggle” with new quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and running back Lyn-J Dixon. Struggle. Additionally, the Tigers return 9 of 11 starters off the defense. The two that left will be playing for UGA and LSU this year.
Clemson brings back arguably the best and deepest defensive line in the country. Led by Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy, Tyler Davis and KJ Henry, this line is uber talented. This front four is bolstered by the return of DE’s Justin Foster and Xavier Thomas. It’s a monster group, and will wreak havoc on most offensive lines all by themselves. This group will single-handedly make Clemson’s offensive line a better group.
Taking advantage of this line will be a strong linebacker group, led by 6-year LB James Skalski. Coach Skalski. Headhunter Skalski. He is the team leader on this defense and the cog that keeps the defense focused. He will be teamed with returning Senior Baylon Spector, who was in on 10.5 tackles for loss, 72 tackles and 4 sacks. Sophomore Trenton Simpson came on strong and looks to be in line for more reps this year. Jake Venables also returns after breaking his arm in the Virginia Tech game. This is a very deep linebacking corp.
On the outside, losing Derion Kendrick to the transfer portal seems big. Kendrick, a former 5-star, decided to leave and is now playing for UGA. On the inside, the loss of Kendrick isn’t as big a loss as it seems. There is going to be a fall battle for his starting spot. CBs Sheridon Jones, Andrew Booth, Mario Goodrich, Fred Davis, Malcolm Green, and incoming 4-star freshman Nate Wiggins will fight it out and you can’t really go wrong with any of them. Booth is ready to have a breakout season and Green came on really strong last year and looks to be a future star. Returning Safeties Lanndon Zander and Nolan Turner bring stability to this position, as does Joseph Charleston. The depth at safety is ridiculous. Ray Thornton III, Tyler Venables, Jalyn Phillips, RJ Mickens and incoming freshman Andrew Mukuba could start for a lot of Power 5 schools and most assuredly in the ACC.
Getting back to the offense, three starters return on the offensive line, losing Jackson Carmen to the NFL and Cade Stewart to graduation. There is a lot of potential returning, led by OT Walker Parks who was able to get in 199 reps last year. Others to look out for are Paul Tchio, Marcus Tate and incoming 5-star Tristan Leigh.
Cornell Powell and Amari Rodgers have taken their talents to the NFL as well. Here is where the fan bases get confused. “Man, ya’ll lost Lawrence, Etienne and your two best wide receivers.” That isn’t totally true. Our best wide receivers were actually hurt most the year, and all three return; Justyn Ross, Joseph Ngata and Frank Ladson.
Yes indeed, Travis Etienne left his mark with Clemson, but so did James Davis and Wayne Gallman and Raymond Priester and and and. It’s called recruiting, and Clemson is just fine at running back with returnees Dixon, Kobe Pace, Darien Rencher and Michael Dukes. Additionally, 5-star Will Shipley and 4-star Phil Mafah are going to push them all for playing time. Running back by committee is the right term for this group…..initially. One or two or three will need to distance themselves.
Tight end will be in it’s best shape in a long, long time. Braden Galloway let the TE’s in playing reps, also hauling in 27 passes for 369 yards and 2 touchdowns. He will be challenged by Davis Allen (16-247, 4 TDs), Jaelyn Lay, Sage Ennis, Luke Price and incoming #1 TE from the 2021 class Jake Briningstool.
All in all, the offense, according to social media, is going to take steps back. We don’t think that is going to be the case. There is too much talent on this offense. DJ can flat out sling it, and staying healthy is the key to this Clemson offense. Clemson is loaded with talented skill players 2-3 deep at every position. Fall practice will not only be focused on turning over the reins to a new quarterback, but also focusing on the backup quarterback. The injury to Taisun Phommachanh put a crimp in the offense plans, leaving only Hunter Helms with any experience to back up Uiagalelei. The jury is still out on the futures of incoming freshmen QBs Bubba Chandler and Will Taylor.
Defensively? Wow. The depth of this defense is probably the best in college football. It will be interesting to see what kind of steps backwards are taken and by which teams. If that little team down in the middle of the state takes steps backwards, they are already standing on the ledge.
