Clemson Football Analysis: 5 Areas the Tigers must improve in 2018

2. Downfield Passing Game

Speaking of a tough area to watch last season…the downfield passing game.

Kelly Bryant was about as inconsistent as they come in the downfield passing game last season. Sometimes he was spot on and other times he would vastly overthrow or under throw his target. I know that Pro Football Focus says that Bryant was “one of the most efficient downfield passers,” but stats lie sometimes.

Seriously, go back and watch some of the games.

There were plenty of times where Bryant placed a perfect ball in the hands of Deon Cain just to be dropped. There were also plenty of times where Cain or Ray Ray McCloud bailed Bryant out by making a play on the ball.

Overall, the downfield passing game was about as inconsistent as it has been in quite some time no matter how you look at it.

That needs to change this year.

Whether it’s Kelly Bryant, Trevor Lawrence or a mixture of both, you have to have the deep ball working to get playmakers involved like Tee Higgins. Higgins will make either QB look good, in my opinion, but you still have to give him something to work with and get it in his area code.

The downfield passing game also opens up the running game, which makes the offense click and operate on a more efficient level.