People all over the country love to claim that they pay attention to Clemson football but that is rarely the case. Whether you are talking about everyday fans, Heisman, and other award voters or nationally published sportswriters.
We get it, we are and will always be slanted pro-Clemson football here at Rubbing the Rock, we are fans of the program and in some cases hold degrees from the University itself, so it can be hard to separate the fandom at times.
There are times where a response pro-Clemson response is warranted and this article is one of those times.
Recently, FanSided Junior Editor Alicia de Artola wrote an article on the “Three reasons Clemson won’t win the national championship this year” – meaning 2021. Alicia very well could be right as there is a greater chance one of the other 129 teams will be crowned champs.
However, it is the reasons that have us stumped.
Clemson football lost a lot of talent from the 2020 team
There is no doubt about this, Clemson football did lose a lot of talent from 2020. However, the 2021 version of the Tigers is the most talented team in the 125-year history of the program.
Sure Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Amari Rodgers, Cornell Powell, Chez Mellusi, Derion Kendrick, LeAnthony Williams, Mike Jones Jr, Jordan Williams, Nyles Pinckney, and Jackson Carman are gone but the Tigers also have a handful of sixth-year starters back as well as elite depth at nearly every position.
In 2020, DJ Uiagalelei in his start against Notre Dame on the road set the record for most passing yards against the Irish in their program’s history. Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney has talked repeatedly over the last year about how great and talented Uiagalelei arm is and even said it was stronger than Trevor Lawrence.
Yes, the ACC’s all-time greatest running back is gone and as Alicia points out Lyn-J Dixon, Kobe Pace, Phil Mafah and Will Shipley will all have a say in the production there. While none have established themselves as individuals, the group itself is the most talented the Tigers have ever had.
Alicia also mentions replacing leading receivers Amari Rodgers and Cornell Powell but what she did not mention was a year ago, those two were backups and only became starters after Justyn Ross, Frank Ladson, and Joseph Ngata got hurt.
All three of those guys are back as are EJ Williams and Ajou Ajou. The Tigers have welcomed both Dacari Collins out of Atlanta as well as Beaux Collins, DJ’s former high school teammate from California. Both of them were among the best at their position coming out of high school.
Clemson football defense returns 10 of their 11 starters from 2020
On the defensive side of the ball, Alicia mentions missing Derion Kendrick. We could not disagree more. During the 2020 season, we wrote several articles about how much he had regressed and spent more time getting beat than he spent making plays.
No one likes seeing young men get dismissed but it was the best thing for both Clemson as well as Kendrick. He will get lit up like a Christmas tree in Charlotte and many will wonder what happened to him.
Andrew Booth Jr, Fred Davis II, Nate Wiggins, Sheridan Jones, and Mario Goodrich will again give Clemson football its most talented secondary in 30 years.
All of that talent stated, we still have not talked about the defensive line – which will be the most talented and deepest in college football.
Tyler Davis, Bryan Bresee, and Myles Murphy are three All-Americans that will anchor a defense that will bring back 10 of its 11 starters from a year ago.
Xavier Thomas announced recently that he was finally back up to 265 pounds and felt amazing. When you add KJ Henry, Justin Foster, Darnell Jefferies, DeMonte Capehart, Ruke Orhorhoro, Justin Mascoll, Payton Page, and Cade Denhoff into the mix, the Clemson football defensive line will send fresh waves of the elite talent at you for four quarters.
Where Alicia hit the nail on the head is where she stated “even great teams don’t win national titles” and there are plenty of issues that can keep Clemson football from winning their third national title under Dabo Swinney but talent and personnel will not be one of them.