Clemson ranked in Athlon's Top 10 for 2017 |
The Clemson Football team should be ranked high in 2017 regardless if they win against Alabama on Monday night.
Athlon Sports released their 'Very Early College Football Top 25' ranking and Clemson was ranked #8 on the list. "After back-to-back trips to the national championship game, Clemson is due for a small step back in the rankings in 2017," Athlon Sports said. "But the drop won’t be far for coach Dabo Swinney’s team, even though the Tigers are expected to lose quarterback Deshaun Watson, wide receiver Mike Williams and running back Wayne Gallman to the NFL. Left tackle Mitch Hyatt and running back Tavien Feaster are two building blocks for coordinator Tony Elliott to build around in 2017. The quarterback competition features a few intriguing options with Kelly Bryant, Tucker Israel, Zerrick Cooper and potential five-star freshman Hunter Johnson vying to replace Watson. The defense will lose a couple of key players – linebacker Ben Boulware, cornerback Cordrea Tankersley and tackle Carlos Watkins. However, coordinator Brent Venables should quickly find the right answers to keep this unit performing at a high level. Ends Christian Wilkins and Clelin Ferrell, tackle Dexter Lawrence and linebacker Kendall Joseph are the anchors on defense next year." The Top 10 schools in the rankings were Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, Penn State, USC, Oklahoma, Washington, Clemson, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
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