Clemson Football: Tigers who are Heisman Hopefuls for 2023
By John Chancey
Will Shipley can put it all together for Clemson Football in 2023
One of the other players competing with Watson for the Heisman was Christian McCaffrey from Stanford. He made a name for himself with his diversity from the running back position.
Coming out of Weddington High School in the Charlotte area, recruiting analysts couldn’t help but compare Shipley to McCaffrey, who played for the Carolina Panthers at the time.
Shipley has been very good at running the ball. He had over 1,000 yards as a true sophomore and has averaged over five yards a carry for his career thus far. He has been decent catching the ball but it hasn’t jumped off the page yet. He’s been good at kick returns, but again hasn’t set the world on fire.
Like Klubnik, there is hope that Riley’s play calling can take Shipley to the next level. A lot has been said about how Riley’s offense is surprisingly reliant on running the ball, considering it is considered an air raid-style attack. The thing that could put Shipley over the top is if he is successful in finding the yards through the air out of the backfield. The icing on the cake will be if he can become dangerous in the kick return game. Then he has a true McCaffrey-esque argument for the Heisman.