Clemson football: Tigers have a couple red flags as they head into July

As good as Clemson football will be in 2021, they still have a couple of areas that would be considered red flags for a team attempting to win its third national title since 2016.

We have and will continue to chronicle the elite talent that Clemson football possesses in 2021 – they are among the most talented and well-coached teams in college football and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

When you look over the depth chart that the Tigers currently have as we are a couple of weeks from the start of summer session II, the red flags start to appear in a couple of areas that have been weak when compared to other parts of the roster.

To be frank, both areas have immense talent but have been unable to play complete games in more than two seasons, and the Tigers’ inability to win national titles in the last two seasons as a result of these areas.

Clemson football has to get better upfront and on the backend

Offensive line

This isn’t well-liked among most Clemson football fans but the fact is the offensive line is among the worst of the elite teams in college football.

The statistics that the offense has put up under Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne hid a lot of inefficiencies in broad daylight – meaning we were so busy watching Etienne break tackles are Lawrence completing passes, that it was assumed the offensive line was doing its job.

They weren’t.

The offensive line will have to replace left tackle and 2021 NFL draft pick Jackson Carman as well as center Cade Stewart, who opted to move on with his life after the 2020 season. They will bring back Jordan McFadden, Matt Bockhorst, Will Putnam and they will have a lot of young talented pieces in Walker Parks, Hunter Rayburn, Paul Tchio, Mason Trotter, Mitchell Mayes, and five-star recruit Tristan Leigh.

Side note – Parks and Leigh may be the two most talented tackles the Tigers have ever had and McFadden will see his time dwindle as the season wears on.

Offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell is close to retirement and quite honestly the group as a whole plays like he coaches – very lethargic. That by no means is a shot at Caldwell as he is among the most liked and respected coaches in the game, but his young days are behind him and it seems as if the ability to mold and develop an offensive line to keep up with today’s game are long gone.

The Clemson football offense has the ability to average 50 points a game in 2021 but if Caldwell does not have the hogs up front ready to play, they could end up being more like UGA the last several years than record-setting offenses like 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama.

Cornerbacks

Another group with a lot of talent all over the place but that talent has not been realized on the field.

Over the last three College Football Playoff games Clemson football has appeared in, the Tigers secondary has given up almost 400 yards per game passing.

Yes, that is just from the opponents passing game.

Back in 2021 are Sheridan Jones, Mario Goodrich Andrew Booth Jr, Fred Davis II, and Nate Wiggins join the Tigers. Gone are 2020 All-ACC first-team corner Derion Kendrick who was dismissed in February and has subsequently signed with UGA and LeAnthony Williams transferred to Marshall in search of more playing time.

Mike Reed can recruit with the best in the country, but like Caldwell, something has been missing when it comes to the play of his position group on the field.

With UGA and quarterback JT Daniels up first in 2021, the Tigers secondary is going to have to be ready from week one and will not have the luxury of six weeks to get ready to play at the level they need to in order to beat the best in college football.

Clemson football has the talent on both the offensive line and at corner to solidify their place among the countries best and be the last team standing come mid-January 2022 but both groups have a lot of questions to answer over the next couple of months as they get ready to start the season in Charlotte.