As Clemson football edges toward September 5 and Georgia Tech, a few names pop up over and over.
That’s not always good early in camp as sometimes those names disappear into the ether as camp goes on or the season begins.
I’ve been around long enough to know that early camp kudos doesn’t necessarily mean a standout season or even significant playing time.
One name that’s popped up over and over this fall is Antonio Williams. Dabo Swinney talks about him. Barrett Carter has talked about him. JP Priester has talked about him.
Williams, a four star recruit from Dutch Fork High in Irmo was ranked 61st overall by 247sports.com, the ninth best wide receiver and the third best player in the state of South Carolina in the 2022 class.
Clemson football was missing a threat from the slot for most of last season, but there are no shortage of options in 2022
At 6’0, 180 pounds he’s not the biggest guy, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as the current theme by the talking heads is Clemson needs someone like this, someone more like Hunter Renfrow or Amari Rodgers rather than the tall, built wide outs they’ve recruited.
The slot is the position that makes the offense go. Third and Renfrow was a popular saying for a reason, not just because everyone loves Hunter Renfrow.
Whether Williams fizzles out in camp, hits a wall during the season or turns into a solid slot as a true freshman is yet to be determined.
The encouraging thing for me is that this year, unlike last, Clemson has a multitude of options at the slot according to JP Priester of AllClemson.com, including Williams, Troy Stellato and Will Taylor among others.
Two of those three have been hurt and all three combined have 4 college receptions for 21 yards, so lets not put the cart before the horse.
That said, slot is a position a true freshman can make his mark, in my opinion, and it’ll be interesting to follow Williams throughout the fall and see where he ends up on the depth chart and how much he contributes as the season develops.