Tigers crack an early Top 10, and have a blueprint for a return to dominance |
There are 234 long days until Clemson kicks off the 2024 season against Georgia in Atlanta, and a lot will transpire between now and then. There are things we know and things we think we know, and a lot of things about which we have questions. One thing we think we know – this Clemson team has a chance to be pretty good.
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic released his way-too-early Top 25 yesterday, and Clemson has a No. 10 ranking. Why the Tigers at No. 10? Mandel writes: The Tigers, who finished the year on a five-game winning streak, lose RB Will Shipley but bring back QB Cade Klubnik, RB Phil Mafah, WRs Tyler Brown and Antonio Williams and most of the O-line. Star LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. turned pro, but Barrett Carter came back. Freshman All-Americans T.J. Parker and Peter Woods emerged on the D-line. Safeties R.J. Mickens and Khalil Barnes anchor the secondary. He has Georgia at No. 1 (no surprise there), and Alabama at No. 2, followed by Oregon (3), Ohio State (4), Texas (5), Michigan (6), Washington (7), Ole Miss (8), and Notre Dame (9). The only other ACC schools to crack his Top 25 are Louisville (16), and Florida St. (19). The Tigers have Louisville at home next season and play at Florida St. He also predicts the new 12-team College Football Playoff and has Clemson as a No. 3-seed, as the ACC Champion. If that’s the case, the Tigers would have a first-round bye and then play in a bowl game against, if they were the 3-seed, the winner between the No. 6 and No. 11 seeds. Regardless of what you think about Michigan and the cheating scandal, the Wolverines showed the rest of the country a few things: games are still won at the line of scrimmage, and you don’t have to have a transcendent quarterback to win a title. The Wolverines pushed Washington around on both lines of scrimmage and did it with an older lineup that stayed together to win a title. Michigan’s offensive line opened gaping holes in the Washington run defense (it also helped that the ACC officiating crew forgot to call holding until Washington received one on a critical play late). The Michigan defensive line mauled the Washington offensive line and had quarterback Michael Penix Jr. scared to drop back to pass. He threw – mostly off the mark – off his back foot all night. So what does that have to do with Clemson? While the Tigers aren’t immune to having players leave, they aren’t losing their most valuable pieces. The offensive line was a bit of a train wreck at times over the past few seasons, but now there’s hope with several returning starters and a new offensive line coach in Matt Luke. The defensive line is also in good shape with defensive tackles coach Nick Eason and new defensive ends coach Chris Rumph. The linebacker spot should be good again with Barrett Carter and Wade Woodaz, the continued development of Kobe McCloud, Dee Crayton, and Jamal Anderson, and the addition of Sammy Brown. The secondary has to replace a few key pieces at corner, but freshmen Avieon Terrell and Shelton Lewis have shown glimpses of greatness. If the offensive line improves, that should help Klubnik and Mafah, and we all saw what a talented receiver like TJ Moore can do when he dominated the All American Bowl last weekend. Yes, it’s just January, and it’s way too early to talk in definite terms. But the excitement should be there for a Clemson program that looks to return to the College Football Playoff.
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