Where Clemson stands at wide receiver entering 2025

Bryant Wesco and TJ Moore will headline a wide receiver room retaining plenty of production in 2025

by Grayson Mann - Correspondent - Jan 2, 2025, 7:00 AM

Massive expectations are on the way.

With the turn of the decade, Clemson’s reputation as one of the wide receiver pipelines slowly deteriorated.

In 2024, that began to change.

The season prior, the highest total for a pass catcher was Tyler Brown with 531 yards. Brown’s campaign was promising for the freshman at the time, but there was certainly more to be desired.

Enter Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore.

Some of Clemson’s highest touted recruits at the position had a massive task ahead of them the moment the pair stepped onto campus: fundamentally change the passing game.

It is safe to say, along with Antonio Williams, they absolutely did.

Wesco and Moore combined for over 1,000 yards and ten touchdowns, providing an embarrassment of riches at the position the Tigers haven’t seen in a while.

Both had their best moments in the postseason, with Wesco having a multi-touchdown game against SMU, while Moore had a career outing against Texas.

ya TJ Moore passed the test vs that great Texas secondary https://t.co/LbpjCCdwFd pic.twitter.com/E2gl0gEXeC
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) December 22, 2024

The duo’s attention paved the way for the reemergence of Williams, who had a career season in his third year as a Tiger.

Williams caught 75 passes for 904 yards and led all pass catchers with 11 touchdowns, looking like the freshman All-American from 2022.

Clemson’s offense drastically improved from the production as a result. In 2023, the Tiger offense averaged 29.8 points per game, which was close to the middle of the pack in the country.

In 2024, the offense exploded as a top 20 product in the nation, averaging 34.7 per matchup.

With all of that laid out in a year where the team found its way back to the playoffs, where does this group go in 2025?

Wesco and Moore have been confirmed back for next season, with Williams expected to return but also having an option to declare for the 2025 NFL draft still. Williams’ loss would be felt, but Dabo Swinney and this staff added extra firepower in the portal.

Tristan Smith was Clemson’s first transfer acquisition in the offseason, and he is coming off of a career year, where he hauled in 76 passes for 934 yards and six touchdowns.

Should Williams return, Smith’s role might prove to be more of a rotational piece, but if the situation at running back this year has taught this staff anything, proven depth pieces are vastly important.

Clemson also retained Cole Turner, who proved to be a reliable playmaker in 2024. The Tigers did lose Noble Johnson and Troy Stellato to the portal, and will see Adam Randall switch to running back, but the outlook on the wide receiver room is as positive as it has been in years.

With the return of Cade Klubnik, the offense should be just as explosive in 2025, if not more. That excitement will come with lofty expectations, but this position group should meet the moment in a massive way.

Projected 2025 Clemson WR group (from current scholarship group)

Sr. - Antonio Williams, Tristan Smith; Jr. - Cole Turner; So. - Tyler Brown (redshirt), TJ Moore, Bryant Wesco, Misun Kelley (redshirt); Fr. - Carleton Preston