Scrimmage Insider: Younger players are beginning to step into bigger roles

Keith Adams Jr. stood out in Wednesday's scrimmage.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Wednesday, March 27 2024

CLEMSON – Clemson’s football team held its final camp scrimmage Wednesday, and some younger players are beginning to step into bigger roles.

Wednesday was the last full scrimmage ahead of the spring game, and it was held in Death Valley. TigerNet spoke with offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin to get their thoughts on what they saw.

We will start with Riley, who said a variety of players stepped up.

“The best positive we had, I felt like we had a lot of guys, different people make some big plays, whether it be a first down conversion, a long play, a touchdown, whatever it may be,” Riley said. “Running backs, some of the tight ends, receivers, quarterbacks made a couple plays with their legs, which was good to see. So that was one of the biggest takeaways I kind of felt from the day is we kind of had some playmakers emerge and that's what you're going to have to have.”

*Riley said Tink (Misun) Kelley is a “unique weapon and has stepped up the last few weeks of camp.

*He said Bryant Wesco has transitioned to the speed of the game.

*Keith Adams had a big day.

“We kind of mixed up who was going against who today and kind of mixed and match a little bit more in this scrimmage. So you kind of put some guys in some advantageous situations or not advantageous,” Rileys said. “So I felt like really every group there was some growth. Some of our truly young guys emerged. Keith Adams had a big day today. We didn’t play Phil Mafah as much today. Kind of held him a little bit. So Keith kind of had a huge opportunity for himself and he capitalized. He had a huge day for us.”

*The quarterbacks also played well, with Cade Klubnik escaping pressure on one play and using his legs to get free before firing a long pass to Wesco.

“I was happy with Cade and how he kind of bounced back from last scrimmage.”

*He said the biggest takeaway from this spring is the maturity level.

*It sounds like no one has separated themselves at center, in what's been billed as a 3-way race among Harris Sewell, Trent Howard and Ryan Linthicum.

*Jarvis Green is another running back that made plays Wednesday.

*Tight end Markus Dixon has made a splash.

*Goodwin likes how his defense has played this spring.

“I've been really pleased with where we're at defensively over the totality of the spring,” Goodwin said. “Always talk about exposure versus exposed in spring ball, and you're either trending in the right direction or trying to get in that circle of trust, but I'm really pleased with the growth over the past few weeks, all three levels of our defense and a lot of guys doing a lot of really good things. Some guys down the line getting really good exposure, good teaching moments and opportunities to progress and bring them along.”

*Goodwin said freshman linebacker Sammy Brown has gotten better each day and that things are starting to slow down for him.

*Goodwin said freshmen Joe Wilkinson and Ricardo Jones have flashed, while Noah Dixon has gotten better every day. Another freshman he mentioned standing out is Champ Thompson.

*Goodwin says both Peter Woods and Caden Story look comfortable at defensive end.