Clemson football's 10 most impactful players since 2016

Hunter Renfrow had more moments than just the natty-winning catch but that's certainly an impactful moment from his time as a Tiger..

by Ryan Kantor - Contributor - Mon Feb 20 07:00:17 GMT-04:00 2023

For many Clemson fans, their favorite sports memory is the game-winning catch by Hunter Renfrow in the 2016 National Championship. That play is certainly high on the list for me, but if I had to pick a single moment, it is the speech that linebacker Ben Boulware gave moments after that touchdown catch. One part in particular always gives me a frog in my throat.

“It is not just for us," Boulware said. "This is for the Tajh Boyds, the Stephone Anthonys, the Grady Jarretts, the Nuk Hopkins, Sammy Watkins. Y’all built this. You started this foundation and all we did was build upon it, and we finished it. After 35 long years, Clemson has been waiting 35 years. It’s finally coming home baby. It’s coming home!”

Those players were canonized into Clemson lore with that speech. They all played a huge role in leveling up the football program. If those are the pre-2016 National Championship-era Tigers who laid the foundation, who are the players who made the biggest impact in keeping them at the top of the sport for so long since then? Here are my top 10 most impactful players on the Clemson football program from 2016 to today:

10. Hunter Renfrow (WR): He is not only iconic for making the famous game-winning catch, but he also had 186 receptions at Clemson. The phrase “third-and-Renfrow” was coined because of his incredible sure-handedness and knack for getting open in short spaces.

9. Ben Boulware (LB): Like Renfrow, Boulware is somewhat of a Clemson icon for being a beloved leader on the 2016 National Championship team. Even last season, he was the voice on the Clemson intro video before the Tigers ran down the hill. It’s not just the lore and pageantry that gets him on this list, he was excellent on the field posting 116 tackles and 4 sacks as a senior.

8. Tee Higgins (WR): Among the great Clemson receivers, Tee Higgins seems to get lost in the shuffle. He shouldn’t. He posted 2,103 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns across his sophomore and junior seasons.

7. Mike Williams (WR): Williams posted two 1000-yard seasons as a Tiger. In 2016, he finished with an insane 1,361 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. In Clemson’s two playoff games that year, he combined for 190 yards and a touchdown.

6. Mitch Hyatt (OL): It is hard to demonstrate the impact of an offensive lineman with stats, but when he was thrust into a starting role in 2015 following Isaiah Battle’s abrupt departure from the team, he rose to the occasion. Without him being ready to protect the QB’s blindside as a true freshman, the Tigers wouldn’t have reached the National Championship in 2015 and continued the program’s upward trajectory.

5. Isaiah Simmons (LB): Truly a Swiss Army Knife, Simmons was used all over the field to keep defenses guessing. In 2019, he finished with 104 tackles, 16.5 TFLs, 8 sacks, and 3 INTs before being taken 8th overall in the NFL draft.

4. Christian Wilkins (DL): Wilkins played both defensive tackle and end for the Tigers. His decision to return for his senior season was instrumental in Clemson winning the 2018 National Championship. He was a key leader who helped bring together the 2018 team amidst a QB change.

With four healthy years at Clemson, he is one of the most productive Tigers in ages. Wilkins finished his collegiate career with 40.5 tackles for loss and 16 sacks. He has gone on to be a highly successful NFL player and a great ambassador for Clemson, recently returning for an appearance on ESPN College Gameday.

3. Travis Etienne (RB): Etienne was incredibly fun to watch due to his game-breaking speed and acceleration. He could score from anywhere on the field and averaged 7.2 yards per carry across 686 career carries. He finished his collegiate career at 7th in NCAA history in rushing touchdowns with 70. The next closest within the ACC is James Connor (Pitt) with 52.

2. Trevor Lawrence (QB): Lawrence is the best quarterback in Clemson history. He is also an incredible ambassador for the program as a Pro Bowl NFL player. He was an extremely efficient passer finishing his Clemson career with a sterling 90-17 TD-INT ratio. While he didn’t post the gaudy yardage numbers that Deshaun Watson did, he threw 15 fewer INTs. What keeps him out of the top spot is simply timing. He was the QB of Clemson’s greatest team ever (2018), but he wasn’t the one who first carried Clemson over the finish line.

1. Deshaun Watson (QB): If Tajh Boyd was the quarterback who slingshot Clemson’s program forward, it was Deshaun Watson who pushed it the last mile to the top of the sport. He had two truly elite seasons posting 4,109 passing yards with a 35-13 TD-INT ratio as a sophomore and 4,593 passing yards with a 41-17 TD-INT ratio as a junior. What makes him the undeniable number one on the list though is his performance in back-to-back National Championships against Alabama. In those contests, he combined for 825 passing yards with a 7-1 TD-INT ratio while running for 106 yards and another TD.

Honorable Mentions:

We’ve gotten this far into the article before the first mention of CJ Spiller. His stardom may be fairly cited as the spark that created the Clemson you know today. He left after 2009 and thus didn’t qualify for this list.

Cornerbacks Trayvon Mullen, AJ Terrell, and Andrew Booth are all also deserving of mention. It was very difficult to know where to insert them and ultimately, because their careers were all three-years they fell barely short. Wayne Gallman and Artavis Scott were two offensive players I would have liked to include as well. Finally, several other defensive players perhaps deserved to make the top 10 but I couldn’t wedge them in. They include: James Sklaski, Dorian O’Daniel, Clelin Ferrell, Dexter Lawrence, and Austin Bryant. Bryant’s toughness to fight through a serious injury in the latter of the 2018 season exemplified that group’s team-first mentality.

Future Considerations:

There were no players from the 2021 or 2022 teams that made the list. While that may seem bleak, there are several players who were considered and with another big year would be on a future list. They include Tyler Davis, Jeremiah Trotter, Barrett Carter, Cade Klubnik, and Will Shipley.