Clemson football: What to expect from wide receivers in 2021

The Clemson football team enters the 2021 season as one of the favorites to make it to the CFB Playoff for a seventh-straight year.

While many look at the Tigers’ returning experience on the defensive side of the ball, some forget about the talent that Clemson possesses at wide receiver.

As a matter of fact, there have been national analysts over the course of this offseason who have expressed their belief that the Tigers’ wide receiving core is a weakness heading into the fall.

What to expect from the Clemson football wide receiver group in 2021

The Tigers were anything but deep at the wide receiver position in 2020. Injuries were prevalent and that led to Clemson having two wide receivers- Amari Rodgers and Cornell Powell- who were most consistent and reliable.

Behind them was more hit-or-miss with freshman E.J. Williams coming on stronger towards the end of the season.

As we head into 2021, though, that has sense of scarcity at the position has changed immensely. Though Rodgers and Powell are gone, Clemson returns some key pieces and the most important portion is that they’re finally healthy.

Justyn Ross missed the entire 2020 season rehabbing from spinal surgery. We haven’t heard official word yet, but he is still hopeful to return this season. The Tigers shared that they’ll be looking to use him (a 6-foot-4, 210 pound WR) in the slot.

With Ross in the slot as a dangerous weapon, Clemson will turn to E.J. Williams (6-foot-3, 200) at the ‘field’ position and then Joseph Ngata (6-foot-3, 220) will man the ‘boundary’ with Frank Ladson Jr. likely snaps out of both spots, as well.  Also in the mix will be Ajou Ajou, Brannon Spector and incoming freshmen Troy Stellato (5-star), Beaux Collins (4-star) and Dacari Collins (4-star).

While last year’s wide receiver group was limited in terms of depth, this is now a unit that could go 6, 7 or even 8 deep.

It’s not just about bodies, either. It’s about development.

There’s something about the wide receiver position that takes time to develop. We see freshmen come in and make major impacts on some occasions (Sammy Watkins and Justyn Ross are great examples), but the vast majority of wide receivers really take a couple of years to develop physically.

A great example of this is the difference between the 2017 Clemson football wide receivers when they faced Alabama’s defensive backs and what we saw in 2018. Ross, a freshman, torched those Crimson Tide receivers but it wasn’t just him. The Tigers used the physicality of their wide receivers to their advantage and it was a perfect mix.

That’s what we’ve got this year.

Clemson has an opportunity- because of the physical development of the veterans and the incoming talent of the freshmen- to have its deepest wide receiver unit in recent history.