Bryant wants to be deep threat in Clemson offense

Martavis Bryant breaks a tackle during a practice for the the 2010 Army All-American Bowl. (Icon/SMI)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Jun 23 16:36:47 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – Chad Morris has said that for his offense to work, he wants to run the football while trying to throw the deep ball at least four times per quarter in order to keep defenses honest.

Enter Martavis BryantMartavis Bryant
Wide Receiver
# 6-4, 195
Anderson, SC
View Full Profile .

The speedster out of Anderson’s T.L. Hanna High School raised more than a few eyebrows last week when he was timed running the 40-yard dash in 4.34 seconds during workouts on campus, and he told TigerNet on Thursday that he wants to be THAT guy in the Clemson offense.

“I want to be the receiver in the offense they throw the deep balls to,” Bryant said. “I am 6-foot-5 now, and I feel like I can stretch the field and go up and get the ball over other guys.”

Bryant went to prep school for a year, and said he is finally ready to report to campus for good. He will be on campus next Sunday and starts school the first week of July.

“Right now, I have just been working out and getting ready,” he said. “It’s been easier lately because I can go to the school and work out. But I report back next week, and then practice starts in August and I can't wait to get on the field.”

Bryant said that his competitive nature is what led to a series of good-natured twitter posts between himself and two Gamecock players last month in which he let them know that the past was just that – in the past – and they had a new beast to deal with this season.

“It is all just part of the rivalry,” he said. “They started it with me and it went both ways, really. It was [backup corner] Vic Hampton and [starting free safety] D.J. Swearinger. It started with my brother, because he was talking about the season coming up and it just went from there. But I am not going to back down from anybody. We will see what happens on the field.”

He said he isn’t allowed to get into Morris’ playbook until practice officially starts, so he concentrates on honing his speed, route running skills and concentrates on catching the ball in traffic.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to learn the plays yet,” he said. “I am going through the skills and drills, just trying to learn something new every day. And I am concentrating on the deep ball. My mindset is that I am coming in to play.

“It seems like this has been forever in coming, and I just want to do whatever I can to help my team win. We have a bunch of great receivers coming in, and most of them are my roommates, so I am going to be pretty close to them.”