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EVENING UPDATE: Day One Spring Practice Insider & Freshmen Nuggets
By: Larry Williams & Paul Strelow
CLEMSON -- A beautiful day for Clemson spring practice to kick off Monday afternoon. First time in a minute we can remember the Tigers starting in short sleeves and amid a backdrop of sunshine and green.
Media were permitted to watch the opening 45 minutes of stretching and individual drills.
A smattering of nuggets and observations:
As always, what attracts the eye out of the gate is the new toys at Clemson's disposal -- the freshmen going through the practice motions for the first few times, and how they stack up aesthetically to their peers.
The Tigers brought in 14 scholarship signees in January along with grad transfer quarterback Paul Tyson and a preferred walk-on running back.
We have the next several days to touch on or address most of them. So we're just going to start with a couple who foremost caught our attention:
**** As subscribers are well-aware, we considered defensive lineman Peter Woods to be the gem of Clemson's signing class -- well before the network finally designated him a five-star, and others dropped his rating because of short-sightedness ... er, we mean, short arms.
Clemson five-star true freshman defensive lineman Peter Woods is hard to miss. (Tigerillustrated.com)
Our inclination has always been to attempt to temper expectations on incoming recruits because they get framed larger-than-life as prospects and are transitioning to a more advanced level than they've come close to experiencing yet.
Which is to say that anticipating Woods to be senior year Christian Wilkins out of the gate is unrealistic and unfair.
It's easy and common to forget the stars climbed steps, too.
There, the legal disclaimers have been conveyed.
Our returns on Woods from the February mat drills simply reinforced the notion that Clemson sees difference-maker sooner than later in Woods.
Well, asterisks are warranted because projected starter Ruke Orhorhoro and returning vets Payton Page and De'Monte Capehart were all absent.
But Clemson ran Woods out as a first-teamer in its tempo period, and we saw Woods flawlessly shift from nose guard to 4i on consecutive snaps with fluidity and assuredness.
The opening workouts usually give coaches a quick idea of where the prospect lines up with their perceived outlook.
Woods appears who we all thought he would be.
**** Pardon us if we get too technical with the following bit of football jargon.
Clemson actually has plenty of bodies in the defensive end cupboard.
It needs dudes.
This is why we have forecasted freshman TJ Parker quickly working his way through the ranks.
Well, nothing we saw changed that prediction.
Former defensive coordinator Brent Venables was an essential thread in Clemson's fabric and obviously contributed exponentially more good through his tenure.
But the vast majority of the returning ends on the depth chart were his acquisitions, and without getting into specifics on each individual, we're going to have to be proved wrong that any of the non-vets (meaning beyond Xavier Thomas and Justin Mascoll) reach what we've come to recognize as Clemson's first-string standard. Or maybe what even should be the second-string.
What stood in front of Parker in the position drill line was opportunity.
First-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley finally got a chance to kickstart installation Monday. (Tigerillustrated.com)
Parker was posted up behind Mascoll for a couple of individual drill reps.
Others have first dibs on the backup jobs.
But we're betting on Parker to join Greg Williams over the offseason haul. -- PAUL STRELOW
The tempo period early in practices is always interesting, but today it took on a new twist.
Normally the offense goes up and down the field against air.
This time there were 11 guys on the other side of the line. As in, the first-team defense.
This would seem to fit neatly in the storyline of Dabo Swinney using this offseason to restore some of the purpose and drive of this program after six losses in the past two years.
You could feel the intensity and competitive spirit right away.
Cade Klubnik got the offense off to a good start by finding Brannon Spector open on a corner route.
But later on that opening series, Klubnik threw a wobbly deep ball for Cole Turner that Andrew Mukuba picked off to energize the defensive side.
We'll leave it to others to freak out about an interception thrown by Klubnik on March 6.
To us, the move to good-on-good tempo sessions ranks as a favorable development. -- LARRY WILLIAMS
(Paul) **** Stay tuned for our extensive coverage tomorrow as Larry and I weigh in with additional takeaways and news coverage of the Tigers' opening practices.
Check out EVERY Clemson collectible & memorabilia item at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE! Includes personally-autographed Trevor Lawrence, DeAndre Hopkins, Travis Etienne and D.J. Uiagalelei officially-licensed Clemson gear.
EVENING UPDATE: Day One Spring Practice Insider & Freshmen Nuggets
By: Larry Williams & Paul Strelow
CLEMSON -- A beautiful day for Clemson spring practice to kick off Monday afternoon. First time in a minute we can remember the Tigers starting in short sleeves and amid a backdrop of sunshine and green.
Media were permitted to watch the opening 45 minutes of stretching and individual drills.
A smattering of nuggets and observations:
As always, what attracts the eye out of the gate is the new toys at Clemson's disposal -- the freshmen going through the practice motions for the first few times, and how they stack up aesthetically to their peers.
The Tigers brought in 14 scholarship signees in January along with grad transfer quarterback Paul Tyson and a preferred walk-on running back.
We have the next several days to touch on or address most of them. So we're just going to start with a couple who foremost caught our attention:
**** As subscribers are well-aware, we considered defensive lineman Peter Woods to be the gem of Clemson's signing class -- well before the network finally designated him a five-star, and others dropped his rating because of short-sightedness ... er, we mean, short arms.
Clemson five-star true freshman defensive lineman Peter Woods is hard to miss. (Tigerillustrated.com)
Our inclination has always been to attempt to temper expectations on incoming recruits because they get framed larger-than-life as prospects and are transitioning to a more advanced level than they've come close to experiencing yet.
Which is to say that anticipating Woods to be senior year Christian Wilkins out of the gate is unrealistic and unfair.
It's easy and common to forget the stars climbed steps, too.
There, the legal disclaimers have been conveyed.
Our returns on Woods from the February mat drills simply reinforced the notion that Clemson sees difference-maker sooner than later in Woods.
Well, asterisks are warranted because projected starter Ruke Orhorhoro and returning vets Payton Page and De'Monte Capehart were all absent.
But Clemson ran Woods out as a first-teamer in its tempo period, and we saw Woods flawlessly shift from nose guard to 4i on consecutive snaps with fluidity and assuredness.
The opening workouts usually give coaches a quick idea of where the prospect lines up with their perceived outlook.
Woods appears who we all thought he would be.
**** Pardon us if we get too technical with the following bit of football jargon.
Clemson actually has plenty of bodies in the defensive end cupboard.
It needs dudes.
This is why we have forecasted freshman TJ Parker quickly working his way through the ranks.
Well, nothing we saw changed that prediction.
Former defensive coordinator Brent Venables was an essential thread in Clemson's fabric and obviously contributed exponentially more good through his tenure.
But the vast majority of the returning ends on the depth chart were his acquisitions, and without getting into specifics on each individual, we're going to have to be proved wrong that any of the non-vets (meaning beyond Xavier Thomas and Justin Mascoll) reach what we've come to recognize as Clemson's first-string standard. Or maybe what even should be the second-string.
What stood in front of Parker in the position drill line was opportunity.
First-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley finally got a chance to kickstart installation Monday. (Tigerillustrated.com)
Parker was posted up behind Mascoll for a couple of individual drill reps.
Others have first dibs on the backup jobs.
But we're betting on Parker to join Greg Williams over the offseason haul. -- PAUL STRELOW
The tempo period early in practices is always interesting, but today it took on a new twist.
Normally the offense goes up and down the field against air.
This time there were 11 guys on the other side of the line. As in, the first-team defense.
This would seem to fit neatly in the storyline of Dabo Swinney using this offseason to restore some of the purpose and drive of this program after six losses in the past two years.
You could feel the intensity and competitive spirit right away.
Cade Klubnik got the offense off to a good start by finding Brannon Spector open on a corner route.
But later on that opening series, Klubnik threw a wobbly deep ball for Cole Turner that Andrew Mukuba picked off to energize the defensive side.
We'll leave it to others to freak out about an interception thrown by Klubnik on March 6.
To us, the move to good-on-good tempo sessions ranks as a favorable development. -- LARRY WILLIAMS
(Paul) **** Stay tuned for our extensive coverage tomorrow as Larry and I weigh in with additional takeaways and news coverage of the Tigers' opening practices.
Check out EVERY Clemson collectible & memorabilia item at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE! Includes personally-autographed Trevor Lawrence, DeAndre Hopkins, Travis Etienne and D.J. Uiagalelei officially-licensed Clemson gear.
