Dabo Swinney and the Tigers are less than a week away from taking the field for the first time this season, and there are plenty of reasons to be excited.
Despite the lackluster season in 2023, Clemson has the talent to be a playoff contender this year. And with a 12-team playoff, earning a spot will be easier than ever. Plus, conference realignment has given college football a new look. Unfortunately, Clemson only faces one of the additions to the ACC (Stanford), but it’ll still be exciting to watch how the new conferences shake out.
So, with that in mind, here are a few bold predictions for the upcoming season.
Three bold predictions for Clemson football’s 2024-25 season
Tyler Brown leads WR with 800-plus yards
Clemson desperately needs a WR1 on the field this season. In 2023, the Tigers had two wide receivers go for more than 500 yards, with Jake Briningstool coming up just shy of the mark with 498 yards. However, they never had someone take over “the guy” in the passing game.
There are multiple reasons why a team needs a dominant (in terms of yards) WR. Firstly, they’re usually the type of player that can get a quarterback out of a bad situation. The adage “screw it, ‘blank’ is down there somewhere” comes to mind. When the play breaks down, who gets open the most and bails the QB out? WR1s also require more attention. How many times did Randy Moss open the defense to allow other receivers targets? Or Julio Jones? Or Clemson’s own DeAndre Hopkins? Tyler Brown could be that for Clemson this year.
Brown led the team as a true freshman in receptions and yards with 52 and 531, respectively. Of course, Antonio Williams was hurt, but Brown virtually came out of nowhere. He was the second-to-last-rated recruit in the 2023 class, per 247 Sports. The likelihood that he’ll back off the throttle is nearly nonexistent. I think William does well this season, too, but Brown has that dog in him, and you can’t take away his bone that easy.