Clemson Football: More of Agent 0 on offense, please

Clemson football starting slot receiver Brannon Spector has had a nice start to the season with 8 receptions for 45 yards in the first three games, including a 15 yard gain on the first play against Louisiana Tech that was beautifully designed and executed.

But there are limitations to his game as a receiver, namely that there’s not likely to be an explosive play if Spector is on the receiving end of a pass.

That’s not a slight, his role is an important one and can be useful as we saw Saturday evening in Death Valley on Clemson’s initial offensive play.

What if I told you Clemson’s highest rated receiver per Pro Football Focus was true freshman Antonio Williams?

As I’ve said many times, these ratings aren’t everything and there are flaws.  But they’re an objective measure, one more piece of the puzzle, of how a player is performing on the field and the value he adds to the team.

The Clemson offense tends to go when there’s a playmaker in the slot. Hunter Renfrow. Artavis Scott. Amari Rodgers.

Antonio Williams has the potential to be that guy.

Through three games Williams has been targeted 10 times and has 9 receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown.

The difference is Williams can catch passes behind the line of scrimmage and make something happen AND he can go long and make the catch. Defenses have to defend both with Williams as opposed to one with Spector in the slot.

Explosive plays are what make offenses go.  Few and far in between are 13 play, 78 yard drives with gains of 5 or 6 yards.  There’ll be a few each year, but the teams that score more are the teams with explosive plays on the regular.

Clemson football true freshman Antonio Williams adds something that the Tiger offense was missing in the slot in 2021

The best offenses gain yards in chunks and that’s one thing that was missing from the Clemson offense in 2021.

Antonio Williams can bring chunks of yards to the Clemson offense.

Williams is a true freshman, his role has been limited in the first three games and it’s to be determined if he’ll be as productive as Clemson moves into the meat of their schedule, but I’m of the belief that he adds something the Tigers offense has been missing – a playmaker in the slot.

Spector has his place in this offense, but I’m of the opinion that if the Tigers are to get where they want to go they’ll need more from the slot and Antonio Williams is the one who can provide the explosiveness needed and his playing time needs to increase in the coming weeks.