Clemson Football: Six Mystery Freshmen

1. TJ Dudley

Clemson football’s Class of 2023 appears to have a solid mix of players. It looks like about half a dozen freshmen are very likely to redshirt. There are upwards of nine players who have impressed in camp and are probably going to play more than four games, eliminating the possibility that they could redshirt.

The balance of the class is a mystery: they are somewhere in between right now. It was assumed that some of them would probably redshirt, but reasons have come up which indicate they might be regular participants this season.

Reason #1: Injuries are unpredictable. Unexpected injuries open up the possibility of more playing time for younger players who might otherwise be reserves. TJ Dudley fits into this first category.

Clemson conversed with Dudley (crouching in the photo above) early in the recruitment cycle for 2022, but initially they weren’t a fit. Dudley verbally committed to the Oregon Ducks in June 2021. Clemson found another linebacker recruit they liked, and it seemed like that ship had sailed.

Then the coaching carousel started turning. Brent Venables was offered the head coaching job at Oklahoma, and he couldn’t say no. Clemson’s linebacker recruit was a huge fan of Venables, and he decided to flip to Oklahoma.

Then Oregon saw a change at the head coaching position when Mario Cristobal decided to take the same position at Miami. Dudley announced that he was re-opening his recruitment, and Clemson began conversing with him again.

Dudley verbally committed to Clemson in early February 2022, which meant he wasn’t a candidate to enroll early. As such, he didn’t report until summer.

Clemson has a good amount of talent in the linebacker room in 2022. They can easily fill the two deep with veteran players. Injuries are always a concern, and it just takes a couple before a guy like Dudley is needed in the rotation.

I suspect the decision on Dudley’s role in 2022 is ‘to be determined’. If Clemson has good fortune with injuries at linebacker, I think Dudley is probably going to be redshirted, but I also think he will see action in all four games he can play during the season.