A few of the important takeaways and nuggets from today's stadium scrimmage:
-- Clearly the big news is Korie Rogers deciding to give up football. Rogers hadn't really done much to distinguish himself during camp, but good gosh this seemed to come out of nowhere. How often do you hear of highly regarded guys like this deciding to hang it up without so much as playing a college snap? Whatever he's going through, you certainly wish him the best. But what a shame. Again, just really surprising. You have guys give up the game for various reasons, but seldom this talented with zero experience at the college level.
-- So in a very short time, the WILL backer position at Clemson has gone from Tony Steward/Ben Boulware to Boulware/Jalen Williams/Martin Aiken. That is quite a drop-off. Williams had done a really nice job during camp even before today's news, but it is a very dicey situation now with Rogers out of the equation. You have to hope Boulware takes today as a learning experience, realizing he's now one of the figureheads of the defense and a key player that can't risk getting ejected by losing his cool. Boulware has done a lot of growing up over the last year, but today's episode shows he still has some more to do. Brent Venables said the lack of leadership and depth at that spot was glaring in today's scrimmage. It also showed up some at the MIKE spot with Kendall Joseph sitting out with a nagging shoulder injury.
-- Venables is very happy with the defensive line thus far. They continued to control things today, and he really likes what he has inside with D.J. Reader, Carlos Watkins, Scott Pagano and Christian Wilkins. He's not as comfortable with the depth at end behind Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd. Richard Yeargin is "coming along," but Venables wants to see more out of him, Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell.
-- The problems at linebacker today centered mostly on poor fits and gap control, which allowed the running backs to slither through and break some long runs. You might recall Venables' biggest frustration coming out of the spring game was gap control by the linebackers, an area that was a great strength for most of last season. Venables did take the blame for some of the poor fits today, saying he was late getting the calls in.
-- Field goals are still an adventure. Not very encouraging on that front today. Jayron Kearse came off the edge one time and plucked one kick out of the air with ease.
-- Continue to hear good things about Adrian Baker. This has been a really good camp for him. Venables had strong praise for Baker today when I asked about him. Also said Cordrea Tankersley has been playing well. Marcus Edmond made a move and was looking good before he suffered a shoulder injury recently that sidelined him for four or five days. Venables told me Mark Fields and Kaleb Chalmers need to be more consistent.
-- A few quotes from today that stand out:
"We're not a Top 10 team right now. Not even close." -- Dabo Swinney
"That was way uncalled for. He needs to be smarter than that and show more discretion and discipline." -- Venables, on Boulware
"Surely somebody led the witness." -- Venables, asked about Mackensie Alexander saying he was the best cornerback in the country "without a doubt" in a rare media session earlier this week.
-- Clearly the big news is Korie Rogers deciding to give up football. Rogers hadn't really done much to distinguish himself during camp, but good gosh this seemed to come out of nowhere. How often do you hear of highly regarded guys like this deciding to hang it up without so much as playing a college snap? Whatever he's going through, you certainly wish him the best. But what a shame. Again, just really surprising. You have guys give up the game for various reasons, but seldom this talented with zero experience at the college level.
-- So in a very short time, the WILL backer position at Clemson has gone from Tony Steward/Ben Boulware to Boulware/Jalen Williams/Martin Aiken. That is quite a drop-off. Williams had done a really nice job during camp even before today's news, but it is a very dicey situation now with Rogers out of the equation. You have to hope Boulware takes today as a learning experience, realizing he's now one of the figureheads of the defense and a key player that can't risk getting ejected by losing his cool. Boulware has done a lot of growing up over the last year, but today's episode shows he still has some more to do. Brent Venables said the lack of leadership and depth at that spot was glaring in today's scrimmage. It also showed up some at the MIKE spot with Kendall Joseph sitting out with a nagging shoulder injury.
-- Venables is very happy with the defensive line thus far. They continued to control things today, and he really likes what he has inside with D.J. Reader, Carlos Watkins, Scott Pagano and Christian Wilkins. He's not as comfortable with the depth at end behind Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd. Richard Yeargin is "coming along," but Venables wants to see more out of him, Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell.
-- The problems at linebacker today centered mostly on poor fits and gap control, which allowed the running backs to slither through and break some long runs. You might recall Venables' biggest frustration coming out of the spring game was gap control by the linebackers, an area that was a great strength for most of last season. Venables did take the blame for some of the poor fits today, saying he was late getting the calls in.
-- Field goals are still an adventure. Not very encouraging on that front today. Jayron Kearse came off the edge one time and plucked one kick out of the air with ease.
-- Continue to hear good things about Adrian Baker. This has been a really good camp for him. Venables had strong praise for Baker today when I asked about him. Also said Cordrea Tankersley has been playing well. Marcus Edmond made a move and was looking good before he suffered a shoulder injury recently that sidelined him for four or five days. Venables told me Mark Fields and Kaleb Chalmers need to be more consistent.
-- A few quotes from today that stand out:
"We're not a Top 10 team right now. Not even close." -- Dabo Swinney
"That was way uncalled for. He needs to be smarter than that and show more discretion and discipline." -- Venables, on Boulware
"Surely somebody led the witness." -- Venables, asked about Mackensie Alexander saying he was the best cornerback in the country "without a doubt" in a rare media session earlier this week.
