Fall Camp Insider: Freshman players are standing out early

Tyler Brown makes a catch Tuesday (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Aug 08 11:00:29 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – The feeling around campus is that this is one of the best freshman classes in recent memory, and through three practices in fall camp, the kids haven’t disappointed.

Full disclaimer: Yes, it’s early, and the players aren’t even in pads. There is still a long way to go, and we haven’t hit the teeth of the camp schedule. We will know much more when the practices shift out to Jervey Meadows. But the first few viewing sessions of camp have given us some early returns on the freshmen.

Another disclaimer: You won’t see anything here on Peter Woods other than this blurb. He’s good. He’s going to be really good. We all know it, and we’ve written about it, so we’re using this space to talk about the others.

And I’ll start with cornerback Avieon Terrell. Both times we’ve been out there, he does something that catches my eye. He told me a few weeks ago he feels like he has that dog in him, that fight, and he wants to come in and play. Sheridan Jones and Nate Wiggins are holding down the starting corner spots, and Jeadyn Lukus and Toriano Pride are running second-team. Terrell and Branden Strozier were third-team Monday.

During competitive team work, I was standing behind one of the officials when Terrell correctly read a screen pass and shut the play down. That forced Paul Tyson, working at third-team QB, to hold the ball and take a sack. That’s not the kind of play you usually see a freshman make this early in camp.

Over on the offensive side of the ball, a player I think has a chance to play is wide receiver Tyler Brown. Brannon Spector was wearing a yellow jersey Monday, and we even saw Spector play some outside on Friday, so Brown has been receiving second-team reps in the slot. As I’ve already written, he’s twitchy, and he flashed on a quick throw from Hunter Helms Monday.

If Spector is healthy and if Troy Stellato plays, it could limit Brown’s playing time. But that means they can bring him along, and I can see a scenario where he plays more as the season rolls on.

Over on the defensive side: I walked into the NIL event in the indoor practice facility a few weeks ago and immediately took note of defensive tackle Vic Burley because of his size. And he stands out during defensive drills because he’s wearing a No. 45 usually associated with a linebacker or smaller player. But he’s 6-5 and recently weighed in at 318 pounds.

In other words, he’s a load. He’s been working with DeMonte Capehart at third-team. Despite his size, he moves really well and executed a perfect twist Monday. He also has what I call heavy hands – he gets those big mitts on people and they move.

At defensive end, it’s not hard to be impressed with TJ Parker, who was here in the spring. With Clemson’s lack of depth at the end spot, Parker will be asked to play a big role this season. But two other freshmen have flashed early in AJ Hoffler and David Ojiegbe. Hoffler is the bigger of the two, but Ojiegbe shows explosive get-off and the ability to hit full-speed fairly fast.

We will have another viewing window Thursday morning when the Tigers take to Jervey Meadows, and there should be three of us from TigerNet out there to write down everything we see from the freshmen.