It feels like Christmas Eve. Fall camp begins for Clemson football this week and fans are going to get plenty of interesting updates and tidbits from Dabo Swinney and Co. on Wednesday as the annual weigh in will be the topic of conversation all over social media.
The Tigers have themselves quite the team and there are some key newcomers who are expected to have major impacts this season.
Two of my picks to have the biggest impacts are coming in with the 2025 recruiting class: Amare Adams and Gideon Davidson.
But arguably the biggest newcomer is coming over from another program.
The Athletic came out with their "most important transfer by school" article this week and while it's sitting there behind a paywall, I decided to tackle the question: who is Clemson's most important transfer?
My answer is somewhat simple: it's Will Heldt.
OK, so that's the short answer, but the long answer is that Heldt brings a different skillset to that defensive line room and he makes it even more dangerous. Clemson's line already has some stars like Peter Woods and TJ Parker, but now you throw in Heldt and there may not be an offensive line in the country that will be able to stay in front of these guys.
And we all know that an elite defensive line can change the entire outlook of the defense. All the success starts in the trenches and Heldt is going to have a major role.
Why not Tristan Smith or Jeremiah Alexander? I think both are going to be very good, but the receiving corps is already one of the best and deepest in the country and the linebackers are in good hands with Sammy Brown and Wade Woodaz. I also think Heldt's ability to get after the quarterback is more valuable than what the other two bring to the table.
Heldt is the most important transfer for Clemson this season, even if he's not even one of the best two players on the defensive line. That's how good this unit is.