Clemson football: 5 encouraging signs for the Tigers as we move forward

Five encouraging signs for Clemson football as we move forward

3. DJ Uiagalelei will grow from this and is already taking strides

D.J. Uiagalelei was the first player in the film room following the loss to Georgia.

Uiagalelei was uncomfortable and it was apparent on Saturday. He played timid and was unable to avoid pressure from that UGA front-seven.

But, let’s not put all of this on him.

Uiagalelei wasn’t helped out by his receivers, who ran the wrong routes at times, his offensive line which missed assignments, or by his play-caller, who made things much more difficult than they needed to be on the young gunslinger.

The good news? He’s resilient and he will come back a better player as a result of this.

The problems with the footwork and pocket presence have to be addressed, but we also can’t deny his obvious arm strength. I still stand by the statement I made earlier this offseason when I said Uiagalelei might have the strongest arm in Clemson football history.

It’s now going to be up to him to develop and it’s going to be up to the pieces around him– both personnel and his coaches– to get better. Clemson needs to find an identity on offense and that all starts with Big Cinco taking reins of this unit.

Everything we’ve seen from him so far tells us he’ll make big strides.