Clemson Spring Game: Buy the hype or temper expectations?

All eyes will be on the QBs this Saturday.

by Ryan Kantor - Contributor - Mon Apr 04 16:14:52 GMT-04:00 2022

The offseason in college football is perilously long, so it is fortunate that we get a little respite from the football-less doldrums with the Spring Game. Clemson will host their annual Orange and White Spring Game in Death Valley this Saturday at 1 pm (ACCN).

Like past offseasons, we’ve been given a ton of reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming year and the scrimmage gives us an opportunity to see it for ourselves and decide if we’re going to buy the hype for the next four months or temper expectations.

Improved Quarterback Play

The “best shape of his life” cliché comes to mind when I think about all the praise heaped upon the now slimmer DJ Uiagalelei. My favorite was a media friend saying he “feels” rock solid now. This of course is great news, but I want to see how it translates on the field. With the spring game rules (i.e., QBs down on contact), we likely won’t see much in terms of scrambling but will his accuracy and pocket presence look better? If the coaches empower him to air it out and the accuracy is improved, my optimism will rise quite a bit. With Clemson’s top two scholarship running backs still recovering from a long season of bumps and bruises, I expect the staff to let it fly through the air quite a bit.

While the chatter about Uiagalelei has been encouraging, we’ve heard almost as much about five-star true freshman Cade Klubnik. It doesn’t sound like he is pushing for the starting job yet, but they say he is the “real deal.” It will be exciting to see if he can push the ball downfield.

Increased Tempo

Almost immediately upon replacing Tony Elliott as the offensive coordinator, Brandon Streeter said he wanted to bring back the tempo Clemson’s offense had been known for. The offense often looks best in the 2-minute drill and is certainly more fun to watch with some tempo. We’ll see if the pace seems hastened in the spring game. It may take more practice for them to be able to execute well with tempo, but hopefully we see them going faster than they have the past few years, especially last year.

Big Plays by Wide Receivers

Over the past few years, Clemson has failed to live up to their “WRU” moniker. Although QB is the most important position on the team and there were obviously struggles there, wide receiver may have been the group that hampered Clemson’s offense most last season.

Now, we’re hearing that the receivers are making big plays in practice. That certainly creates some optimism. Beaux Collins came on strong in the latter half of last season and needs to build on that momentum. He’ll be a big part of the passing game next year. The 6-foot-4 tall Dacari Collins also showed flashes late last season, and with Justyn Ross departing, the Tigers need a tall target out wide to win jump balls. Dacari is capable of filling that role nicely.

Joseph Ngata has had several hype-filled offseasons, but this time the message is simpler. He just has to stay healthy. While Ngata isn’t a household name, the veteran may be one of the biggest X-factors for this offense.

The Tigers hope to see all of them perform well in the spring game, but the receiver I’ll especially be watching out for is slot receiver Brannon Spector. Clemson sorely missed having a true slot receiver last season and Spector appears poised to fill that role. He missed all of 2021 with respiratory issues, but is finally healthy, has his weight back up to 200 lbs and could be a critical piece of the offense.

Reports on the true freshman Adam Randall are that he looks like “a grown man” and has an “NFL body,” but the news of his torn ACL makes a good showing from the other receivers all the more critical.

Is there Offensive Line Progress?

Before last season, we heard a lot about how the offensive line looked much improved after struggling the prior year. They moved Matt Bockhorst from guard to center when Mason Trotter got hurt and the results were underwhelming.

Now, Clemson has lost both Trotter (Swinney said he is "probably going to be out most of the season") and Hunter Rayburn – both players who were vying for the starting center position – and have shifted Will Putnam to center now. It feels like déjà vu. Meanwhile, the defensive line should be Clemson’s best in quite a while. Can Clemson’s O-line hold up? It’s not that the O-line has been hyped, rather it is an area that needs to make progress despite losing two key pieces we didn’t see coming. I’m hoping a quality performance in the spring game can assuage these worried.

Final Thoughts

It is hard to learn a lot from a spring game with the team split up, but these are a few areas where we may be able to judge some tangible progress and get a feel for what 2022 will bring.