Are we a contender in 2015? Maybe. But we could bust too.

Jan 14, 2015, 1:57 PM

(Long post warning: if lotsa words makes your head ring in confusion, move along to Twitter. Really.)

As is usual at Clemson, we have the skill.

We have, IMHO, the single best QB in college football. Period. If he's healthy. Watson's got an amazing arm, amazing pocket presence, can hit a guy between the numbers from 40-50 yards out. He goes through a progression, and on top of that, he can escape and make stuff happen with his feet - both in stringing plays out, and just plain getting a first down with his feet when nothing's there. IMHO his ability to turn a broken play into a big gain is as impressive as his throwing ability.

I would say he's not a running QB, per se. You run him 15 times a game, you're going to get him hurt. Watson is not Tim Tebow. He is not Tajh Boyd. He is not Nick Marshall. He is a slighter-built guy than that, and all these injuries he had this year are likely pretty indicative of what's going to happen to him if you run him too much. The coaches have gotta be a little more careful this year about how and when they run him. He just isn't built to do double-duty as both the team's leading RB AND passer, as Tajh Boyd could. He's more like Marcus Mariota...though he's a better thrower, IMHO.

We have receivers, proven ones. Mike Williams, Artavis Scott, and Charone Peake - if his knee finally cooperates - are a comparable starting three to what we had with the Youngblood/D-Ham/Currie group in '03, or even the Hopkins/Watkins/Brown/Bryant group we had in 2012 and 2013. Add the likes of Cain and McCloud to that and we're talking arguably the top group in college football...again. We're getting used to that in Tigertown.

After that I have questions. A ton of them.

1) Do we have a bell-cow RB? I like Gallman but his Wing T instincts showed a lot. He isn't in the same class as Ezekiel Elliott or Samaje Pirane or a Nick Chubb...yet. He needs about 20+ pounds of muscle, he needs to stop bouncing things east-west and run more behind his pads and find the creases in the zone better. He did better at a lot of those things as the year progressed and his explosiveness and determination carried him quite a ways. But he's still very much in progress as our #1 RB. Our walking wounded need to recover. Tyshon Dye has plenty of potential but is still recovering from two very significant injuries and was never 100%. And Adam Choice has talent but he's going to recover from an ACL. We'll need 2-3 RB's in the class of the elite teams and while we've got the talent we don't have the production...yet.

2) Do we have an OL? I like Isaiah Battle's physical tools but he's yet to really dominate like he could. Tyrone Crowder is a potential monster at OG; he certainly looks the part, but he's yet to really play like the King Kong in shoulder pads he looks like. Guillermo was hampered by injuries but has shown flashes he could be a functional C. After that, though, there's nothing but questions. We're going to be leaning HARD on true and redshirt freshmen - not just for depth but also to start. On paper - which tells no lies - the talent is there. But it has to develop in a hurry and translate to the field or there will be few holes for our RB's to run through, and Watson is going to be running for his life.

3) Do we have a DL? Again, ton of talent. I feel good about Reader, Pagano, and Wilkins at DT. I really like Shaq Lawson at weakside end. After that...it's unproven players. We need an impact strongside end who can set the edge. (Actually we need at least two of them, we lost both starters.) We've got a bevvy of highly-recruited 4-and-5-stars ready to step in...but again, they're going to have to progress in a hurry and produce in a hurry if they're going to even approach the productivity of last year's group.

4) Replacing Anthony and Steward is not going to be easy either. Steward might as well be in Witness Protection for all the pub he got after the injuries he suffered...after coming into Clemson as a 5-star. But down the stretch he really started looking like the guy we thought we were getting, and somebody in the NFL is going to notice. Anthony did nothing but dominate the last two years and played at a borderline All-American level. Boulware looks like one potential answer, but we need two more NFL prototype specimens like Steward and Anthony to emerge. There's a pile of bodies, including guys who redshirted - but again, they're going to have to step in and produce in a hurry.

And finally....

5) CAN WE GET SOMETHING GOING ON SPECIAL TEAMS? This is huge. Right now we have a guy who emerged as a pretty good PK in Amon Lakip after a very shaky start. But we need a punter with Pinion going pro early, and for the love 'o God...we need kick and punt returners to start making an impact in the worst way. We get nothing off our returns and that's gotta start changing. Our coverage units are also shaky. ST's are a third of the game and we've been mediocre-to-below-average at best in those areas, which was masked by how good we were on defense, and sometimes on offense. But you can make an argument that ST's cost us both the UGA and FSU games and if we're aspiring to the playoffs, there's going to be a couple games this next season where they have a huge impact as well.

Oh, and yeah, for good measure...

6) Do we have a QB who can take over and carry the team if something happens to Watson again? Again...the answer lies with two freshman unknowns, since we now have just three scholarship-caliber QB's on roster and two of them should still be in high school. Scary situation for a team thinking of itself as a playoff contender.

I see potentially 15-0 and a national title. I also see potentially 7-6 and a season that could be up-and-down like a yo-yo if the injury bug doesn't move along...and if certain redshirt and true froshes don't show up ready to play.

What say you?

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> Agree with your thoughts on Watson and the WR corps.
> Don't forget Hopper either, he is very talented when
> he catches the ball.
>
> 1. Yes, we do. Our bell-cow RB is our depth. In
> theory, we will have 5 healthy backs who can
> contribute to the running as well as the passing game
> next year. I think we will see a dose of each guy in
> different situations depending on their skill set. I
> do, however, think Gallman and Dye will be the
> primary ballcarriers. I wouldn't worry about the RBs
>
> 2. I also don't think the OL is as big of a question
> mark as you say. Battle is solid and ready to show
> out, and Crowder is definitely ready for a breakout
> year. We haven't seen it yet because he was only a
> freshman. Joe Gore will be solid at RT. We have
> Norton and Guillermo at C who are both all-conference
> caliber, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one of
> them take snaps at guard as well. Throw in MacLain
> and we have a solid 6 guys who can start. While we
> will be thin, it couldn't be worse than this year,
> and we will have young guys like Morris, Hearn,
> Falcinelli, and Hyatt who can provide roles as
> backups.
>
> 3. DL will see a dropoff, but not much. The DT
> rotation will be solid with Reader, Watkins, and
> Pagano...I expect to see Wilkins avoid a redshirt and
> contribute from the start. Maybe Cervenka too,
> depending on where Jabril Robinson is at. At DE, we
> have a proven star in Lawson, but also have guys like
> Aiken and Dodd and Ogundeko and Dane Rogers that
> have been in the program for a couple years and are
> ready for their turn.
>
> 4. I also agree that Anthony will be missed....my
> personal favorite player on D, but I feel good with
> Boulware taking over. He isn't quite the physical
> specimen Anthony was, but he has great instincts and
> plays with a mean streak. Goodson will be solid too,
> and the young guys like Register and Rogers should be
> ready to contribute. We also have Wiggins, ODaniel,
> and Blanks back at SAM. We will be in good shape
>
> Agree with special teams. Need to get something going
> in the return game. I'd like to see Cain or Scott
> returning kicks and Ray Ray/Alexander on punts
>
> All that being said, can you REALLY see us losing 6
> games with ALL this wealth of talent on the roster?
> With DW at QB? I mean, maybe if he gets hurt and is
> out from week 1, I just can't see us losing more than
> 3-4 in the absolute worst case scenario

Gotta disagree with the statements on our OL.

Battle is...iffy to me. Not physically, but he spent a lot of time the past couple years in the coaches' doghouse with issues related to maturity and assignment. He's also been a bit of a hothead who can get unwound and get some bad personal-foul penalties at times. He's also good in pass-pro; he has not always been a killer in the run game. Battle does have NFL tools and maybe his senior year will see the big step forward we're hoping for from him. Crowder, right now, is a straight-ahead mauler who's good just mashing the guy ahead of him...he's also shaky in pass-pro and hasn't shown he can pull or fire out and get to the second level when you're running power. So he's got some progress to make.

As far as Guillermo and Norton being All-Conference. No. Just...no. Norton was...bad, for most of the year. I'll leave it at that. I know he was playing with essentially one arm but he lacks size, strength, and athleticism and he got rag-dolled more than a bit. Guillermo looked somewhat better but there's still a rather large gulf between him and All-Conference. Or even "Solid Starter". If either of them wind up at guard we've got Issues.

Joe Gore also hasn't been anything approaching "solid" at RT. He's got the athleticism and wingspan, but he's only about 280, if that, and is a non-factor in the running game and he missed a bunch of assignments this year. If Gore doesn't lose his job from Minute 1 to Mitch Hyatt I'll be shocked. If Gore ends up being the guy at RT I'll be very concerned.

RB "Depth" is also a bit of a misnomer, especially as young as our OL is likely to be. We tried to roll a bunch of guys this past year and for at least the first half of the season we were largely unproductive. And you will not confuse the RB's we have, right now, with what they've got at, say, Alabama, or LSU, or Georgia, or Oregon. We really need Gallman - if he's truly going to be our #1 - to get bigger and stronger, and more of an inside runner as opposed to an A-back, which is what he was used to playing...and we need either Choice or more likely Dye to really start playing like they look. Dye looks like that prototypical Alabama RB; we need him to heal up, get into football shape, get a good camp under his belt, and start playing to his talent. We haven't seen that guy yet.

Do I see us losing six games? Maybe...especially if Watson gets hurt again, we could have a real problem at QB unless one of the true froshes progresses a lot faster than expected. Freshmen QB as game-ready as Watson are rare, rare, rare, and while Israel and Bryant are promising if we have to play with either of them for an extended period as true freshmen I would expect some serious growing pains.

Do I see six loseable games on the schedule? Yup. FSU, GT, and Notre Dame all look like potential losses; we get them in the Valley but they are going to be strong teams next year. On the road we get Louisville, Miami, NC State - who is much-improved - and South Carolina. Take away our Mack Daddy #1 defense and add a true freshman QB if Watson gets hurt...yup, the season could go South in a hurry.

Are we a contender in 2015? Maybe. But we could bust too.

TL:DR

Good OL = go far this year. Even if the D isn't outstanding.

You think even with playing with Johnson out we'll

I feel like it's an upgrade from Peters.

Yea, when he's in!

Not 7-6.

Re: Are we a contender in 2015? Maybe. But we could bust too.

Re: Are we a contender in 2015? Maybe. But we could bust too.

Re: Are we a contender in 2015? Maybe. But we could bust too.

A bit on the pessimistic side, eh?

Re: A bit on the pessimistic side, eh?

Quozzel...

Re: Special teams/no risk no reward/dabo/cahones... Example:

Re: Special teams/no risk no reward/dabo/cahones... Example:

You're right, if everything bounces right, the ceiling for

DW healthy and it's ON !!!***

What does tiger james think?

don't expect the glue-sniffers on the Board to get you....

We win it all in 2015. My proclamation for over a yr or 2

7-6 to 15-0. going out on a limb there

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