Wednesday Insider: Freshman receivers bring the heat to Jervey Meadows |
CLEMSON – Jervey Meadows hits a little differently.
Clemson’s sixth practice of August camp moved from the Reeves practice fields across the road to Jervey Meadows (which sits behind the outfield walls of the baseball and softball stadiums). The Jervey grass is patchy and filled with sand, and with a “reel feel” of 105 degrees, practices are not comfortable. But that’s the point, to simulate a tough road environment where you have to push through. We were allowed a brief viewing window and have some news and notes to pass along. "First of all, there's no shade. There are no buildings. You just out in the open, it's exposed, it's hot as crap. It's not perfect," head coach Dabo Swinney said, "Just a little different mentality that you have to bring over there. And I think that's just a good part of camp. So, just like I said, we've been here since last Tuesday, so it just kind of changes the scenery a little bit. Challenges them on the first day of full pads, a little bit of live work. We'll do some live goal line and short-yardage, so just changes it up. And then, we will end up flipping practice on Friday. Thursday will be the way we've structured it, we're not going to be on the field more than three days in a row, so we've kind of tweaked that a little bit. So Thursday will be all meetings, and then we'll actually, we'll take 'em out." *Wearing green (non-contact) jerseys were tight end Jake Briningstool, defensive tackle Vic Burley, defensive tackle Stephilyan Green, wide receiver Cole Turner, defensive end Cade Denhoff, and cornerback Jeadyn Lukus (who has struggled to remain healthy). *Graduate quarterback Paul Tyson continued his yo-yoing between dressing out as a player and dressing out more in the coaching role he aspires to. Through three media viewing periods allowed, Tyson has been dressed out as a student coach in two, like today, and as a player in one. In drills, Cade Klubnik and Christopher Vizzina were your Nos. 1-2 respectively commanding different sides of the field in individual drills shown to us, with Trent Pearman paired up with Klubnik and walk-on Ethan Anderson with Vizzina. We spent the early part of the second period watching the quarterbacks, and what we’ve seen to this point and what we’ve heard from others continues to match up - Cade Klubnik is acting more mature and settled. It looks like the game and practices have slowed down considerably, which will only help him once the season starts. The Tigers will scrimmage Saturday in Death Valley, and the early returns will be interesting. Swinney told the media that Vizzina had strung together some good consecutive practices. From what we saw, Vizzina’s ball placement appears to have made some strides since the spring game. Where the receivers’ emphasis was ball security, the quarterback’s main word that was thrown to them was placement. Pearman made some good throws in his red-zone fade drill, but he suffered some drops during this period. *In O-line individual drills shown, Matt Luke was working intently with the interior group. Ryan Linthicum and Harris Sewell continued to be displayed as your Nos. 1-2 at center respectively with Walker Parks at right guard and Marcus Tate at left guard. *It’s been a while since we’ve seen the venerable No. 42 line up along Clemson’s defensive line, and yes, it brings back memories of Christian Wilkins. The number currently belongs to freshman defensive tackle Hevin Brown-Shuler, who lines up at 6-5, 295. He has the quick twitch dominant tackles have and plays with good bend. He also has “heavy hands” and is a force with his punch. *NFL scouts from the Tennessee Titans, San Diego New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, and Cleveland Browns were in attendance. *The running back rotation will be highlighted by Phil Mafah, but the competition for the backup role is heating up. During Tuesday's media session, Swinney said Adams was “in a category of his own,” and we saw those comments come to fruition. Adams is currently lining up second in drills, following closely behind Mafah everywhere the unit goes. Based on what we saw, it appears Adams is the clubhouse leader for that role, but it is still too early to declare anything is set in stone. When it comes to Mafah, there are still plenty of eyes on him. At least four 49ers scouts were observing Mafah in drills, watching very closely to see the senior back’s skills up close. *With the receivers and quarterbacks, there was a clear theme for these practice periods—ball security. At each catch point during these drills, a coach was ready to drill the ball out of each wideout while trying to make a play. Overall, the receivers were solid. We saw a couple of drops, but the group didn’t struggle. Once again, TJ Moore flashed in the limited time that we saw him. Moore’s release and quick change of direction stand out amongst each group the freshman finds himself in. Swinney pointed out that Moore is the “natural he hoped he’d be,” and he continues to back those words in practice. The quarterbacks and receivers were practicing quick slants into the end zone – from about 10-yards out – and Bryant Wesco is fast getting out of a cut and back to full speed. His stride eats up ground, and he has soft hands. *Klubnik was running the show in a fade throw drill that particularly showed off the skills of Wesco and Moore. Wesco and Moore can both get up and snatch the ball out of the air with ease. When receivers aren’t quite on the right route track, Klubnik is quick to signal where he wants them to connect on the red zone play in the drill. The group is looking for better red zone success in 2024, and those kinds of connections will be key. During the open portion of today's practice at Jervey Meadows, Clemson tight end Josh Sapp makes a great leaping grab in the corner of the endzone and stays in bounds. Josh Sapp with the highlight reel grab out at Jervey Daniel alum Trent Pearman with the pass & freshman wide out Parker Fulgham with a nice one-handed grab in the endzone during Clemson practice this afternoon.@WSPA7 pic.twitter.com/95JAx8RId8
The former @GHS_Raiders playmaker appears to be in midseason form.@WSPA7 pic.twitter.com/yFrJRxoABS
we are so back pic.twitter.com/WDCuCZaZCP
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