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Clemson Football: Xavier Thomas has All-American potential as a sophomore

By Shawn Spencer

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Jalen Hurts #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is pursued by Xavier Thomas #3 of the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Jalen Hurts #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is pursued by Xavier Thomas #3 of the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Clemson football defensive end Xavier Thomas showed great promise as a freshman playing behind two great defensive ends. Now, it’s his time to shine.

As good as Clemson football has had at defensive end the past few years- with guys like Vic Beasley, Shaq Lawson, Clelin Ferrell, Kevin Dodd, Austin Bryant and several others- it’s hard to believe the Tigers could get even better this year.

But, that’s exactly what is going to happen.

Though Clemson lost two extremely talented defensive ends in Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell, there’s a good chance that the pass-rush is actually going to be better in 2019.

Why? Because of the talent that Xavier Thomas brings to the table.

Thomas had some big sacks and QB pressures in the playing time he saw as a freshman. He was very good in a limited role and, one of the favorites for the defense was when we saw Thomas line up with Ferrell, Bryant and Christian Wilkins to create the ultimate pass-rushing nightmare for opposing offenses.

Now, he still has areas where we need to see more of him.

Though Thomas is the best pure pass-rusher I think we’ve seen since Vic Beasley- and maybe ever in Clemson football history- he has to be able to set a hard edge in the running game and be able to play RPOs with a high football IQ.

That’s something that both Ferrell and Bryant learned to do during their time with the Tigers that made Clemson so successful at funneling the run game inside and allowing Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence to finish the play.

It’s not to say that Thomas isn’t already doing this, it’s just we haven’t seen him do it in a full-time capacity.

There’s no question that Clemson will miss both Ferrell and Bryant. They were great leaders and created pressure, but what I see with Xavier Thomas has me excited.

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He’s got such a quick twitch and is very explosive. The talent and potential is there for him to be an All-American this year. He’ll choose what his ceiling is and I think we’ll be pleased with what we see when it’s all said and done.

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