Clemson football: Why people are high on D.J. Uiagalelei’s Heisman chances

The Clemson football program has never had a Heisman Trophy winner, but that all could be about to change in the near future.

Now, we know what you’re thinking.

Clemson football fans have seemingly grown accustomed to seeing Tigers get snubbed for the award as we’ve seen the last two previous quarterbacks- Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence– both as finalists and major contenders to just walk away empty-handed.

Some say the system in Clemson will never allow the Tigers to win a Heisman.

Here’s why we’re high on Clemson football’s chances of bringing home the award this season

D.J. Uiagalelei is stepping in as the next quarterback for the Tigers and there is a ton of hype building around him in these circles.

While Uiagalelei is listed with the second-highest Heisman odds heading into this season, we wouldn’t necessarily say that he is well-known or has through-the-roof expectations nationally.

People are talking a ton about Spencer Rattler. They’re mentioning others- Uiagalelei in that mix- but there is not some major ‘hype train’ like there was Trevor Lawrence heading into last season. In the end, that ‘hype’ hurt Lawrence’s chances because when he fell statistically short of expectations, people wrote him off.

Uiagalelei is going to have a chance to supersede expectations in a big way and the Tigers’ offensive system is going to help him.

We’ve already seen a small glimpse into how the Tigers will operate with Uiagalelei at the helm. In two starts last season, he threw for nearly 800 yards and accounted for six touchdowns. No one is saying that he’s going to throw for 350 yards per game, but there’s a solid chance he gets over that ‘300 yard’ mark quite a bit and when he starts to put up gaudy stats, people are going to take notice.

He’s also got a major chance to put his name in the hat in a big way with a win over Georgia in the season-opener. If he shows dominance in that game, the nation will almost automatically bump him to the Heisman favorite with only Rattler to beat.

Because of the hype surrounding Rattler- similar to Lawrence, but not near as strong- he’s going to have to almost a perfect season to come away with the award. If he falters- loses a game or two- or comes up short with stats, the voters will abandon him and look for someone else: Uiagalelei- the hot name- will be their choice.

Uiagalelei is in that perfect position- he’s known, but he doesn’t have unattainable expectations- and that’s going to give him a prime opportunity at bringing home the award.