The one thing I kept mentioning to those expecting early playing time for true freshman Cade Klubnik was the need for him to get bigger and stronger.
Despite playing in 6A Texas High School football, Klubnik was a slender 6 foot 2 and a half and 186 pounds.
He’s obviously going to see bigger, faster and stronger defenders at the collegiate level, not to mention the Clemson practice fields, and his body needs to be as prepared as possible in order to compete.
Apparently that has happened as Dabo Swinney says Klubnik has added some weight since he last stepped on a scale, bulking up from that reported 186 pounds last fall.
Swinney expects Klubnik to be at around 200 pounds by August.
"“He has put on some weight since he got here, already bulked up,” Swinney said. “He’s 180-something, upper 80’s close to 190. He’ll easily probably be 200, 200 plus when we get to August.”"
Adam Randall has no such issues, as various images on Twitter has shown.
Welcome Clemson 4* WR Adam Randall @A_Randall5
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) March 3, 2022
He should be going to prom in a few months. Instead, he's at spring ball and he's massive. pic.twitter.com/cPHpbtl7PD
Now comes word that 5 star cornerback Jaedyn Lucas is similarly physically ready for action as a freshman.
Much talk about freshman WR Adam Randall and how physically ready he is. Mike Reed had similar to say about CB Jeadyn Lukus (6-2, 185).
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) March 15, 2022
"He’s one of those kids who jumps out of the cereal box and he’s already assembled. Ain’t much I gotta do ... He’s got an NFL body right now."
While looking ready to compete is part of it, there’s a difference between looking the part and being the part during actual games and these young players will have to earn their Tiger stripes before seeing the field.
In recent years, the Tigers have had many true freshman contribute in key roles so the coaches have a great idea of what works and what doesn’t for younger players.
The Tigers need all three to be ready to compete for playing time this fall as depth at wide out was such a challenge at the end of the season that Will Swinney started in the Bowl game.
At cornerback, Andrew Booth, Jr. and Mario Goodrich are off to the NFL and we are all aware of the depth issues at quarterback, which saw multiple injuries and a mid-season transfer and left the Tigers in a precarious position at times.
It’s just one part of the process of adjusting to college football, but it’s an important one that could be the difference between contributing or not and all of these freshmen came in physically ready to compete.