Clemson should start the spring with a full complement of wide receivers

Antonio Williams should be ready to go in the spring.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Feb 12 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2024

Wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham is going to walk out onto the practice fields for the start of spring practice in two weeks and wonder if his eyes are deceiving him. Why? Because for the first time in a long time, he should have all of his wide receivers present and accounted for, save one.

Clemson starts practice in two weeks in what will be a very important spring for Grisham’s wide receivers and the offense as a whole as the Tigers start the second year in Garrett Riley’s offense. The offense was hit or miss for much of last season and ended the year ranked 42nd nationally in total offense at just over 402 yards per game.

The passing offense was ranked 61st nationally at 228 yards per game and has been the story for much of the last few seasons; injuries have played a factor. Antonio Williams played in just five games and Cole Turner played in just two games, and other players battled nagging injuries for much of the season.

However, Clemson went into last spring wondering who would be able to suit up on any given day. Beaux Collins had shoulder surgery and was limited. Adam Randall, who missed much his first spring with an ACL injury, was limited following a scope of his other knee. Troy Stellato was still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered. And others were in and out after an offseason of cleaning up the nagging injuries that occur during a season.

That won’t be the case this spring. Grisham said during the Fort Hill Clemson Club Recruiting Wrap the other night that he should have 22 wide receivers available this spring. Out of the ten scholarship wide receivers, the only one missing is 5-star TJ Morre, who will be on campus in early June. The other nine scholarship receivers and the preferred walk-ons who are on campus should be ready to go.

An entire spring for a guy like Adam Randall can’t be understated, and it will be interesting to see how Cole Turner looks after the injury he suffered last season.

The Tigers have five players returning who started games last season in Williams, Tyler Brown, Randall, Turner, and Stellato. Brown led the team in receptions (52) and receiving yards (531) and was second only to tight end Jake Briningstool in touchdown receptions (Briningstool had five, Brown had four).

The other wide receivers available are Ronan Hanafin, Noble Johnson, Misun Kelley and freshman Bryant Wesco. Hanafin played the most out of that group last season, seeing action in 11 games, but didn’t record a reception.

Wesco will be one to watch. Wesco verbally committed to the Tigers last June and was the No. 13 wide receiver prospect and the No. 48 overall prospect in the class of 2024, according to 247Sports Composite rankings. As a junior in 2022, Wesco recorded 58 receptions for 1,160 yards and 17 touchdowns. As a senior, he followed that up with 61 receptions for 981 yards and 16 touchdowns last fall.

He needs to add weight – he will get there – and he told reporters ahead of the Under Armour All-America Game in early January that he is ready to put Clemson back on the map, saying that the reports of Clemson’s demise rankle him.

“It does get under my skin a little bit,” Wesco said. “Everybody has a bad season once in a while, but that doesn’t determine that the school has fallen off or not. It’ll be a way for me to go there and bring back — make sure no one has any more doubts about if Clemson has fallen off or not and make sure that we’re still big.”

It all starts in the spring with a healthy group of wide receivers.