Clemson Football: YACing it up – Yards after catch leaders set to benefit from Riley offense

For the last two seasons Clemson football has struggled in the passing game for the most part.  Sure, there have been good performances, such as the ACC Championship Game last December, but for the most part, it’s been a tough watch, especially for a team that had been recently led by Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence.

Most of that lands squarely at the feet of D.J. Uiagalelei, but there’s some piece that belongs to the receivers and I’m not going to quibble over who gets what share of the blame.

While the deep passes make the headlines and highlights, the passes that make the offense “go” are more often of the short variety, allowing for a high completion percentage and receivers with short-area quickness to make moves after the catch.

When the Tigers were at their heyday eating up time and yards they played pitch and catch. Nine yards here, seven there.  A run up the middle. A shovel pass.

Think Artavis Scott and Hunter Renfrow.

It’s not rocket science to predict the next one for Clemson: Antonio Williams.

Williams led the Tigers in yards after catch this season with 343, followed by Will Shipley with 312.

Garrett Riley intends for his offense to play fast and physical and for that to happen, you have to complete passes at a high rate.

To complete passes at a high rate, they generally need to be of the shorter variety.

In 2022 74.7% of targets to Williams were completed and Clemson averaged 8.1 yards per target to Williams.  Per target being the operative word.

Complete or not, every time the Tigers threw at Williams they averaged over 8 yards.

Give me more of that, please.

Shipley’s completion rate was even higher at 88.1% as most of his targets were pitch and catch behind the line of scrimmage and he led the team in average yards after catch per reception at 6.1.

Clemson football returns three of its top four receivers in yards after catch

I’m not going out on a ledge here when I say these two will be a focal point of Riley’s offense in 2023, along with the running game.

In the past Clemson fans have been mystified as the Tigers seemingly strayed from what was working in favor of being “unpredictable” or “balanced”.

The hire of Riley offers hope for change in that, and so many other, areas.

We also shouldn’t forget No. 9 on offense, Jake Briningstool, who was fourth on the team in yards after catch and averaged almost 7 yards gained after every reception.

These three players, along with Cade Klubnik of course, are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of the change in offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.