Amari Rodgers says Ajou Ajou is on verge of breakout: "He's a monster"

Ajou gets big air before the home game against The Citadel last season

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Mar 16 08:01:03 GMT-04:00 2021

Amari Rodgers knows a little bit about playing wide receiver in college, so he was asked last week who he thought would be the Tigers’ breakout receiver this season. Rodgers didn’t hesitate in naming Ajou Ajou, the raw physical specimen who is still learning to play wide receiver.

It looks like the project is getting closer to completion.

The school website says that Ajou is “loaded with potential” and even that statement doesn’t begin to describe just how good he can be.

Ajou grew up in Brooks, Alberta, a small community that is known for its farming, energy sector, and meatpacking and processing plants. It sits not quite halfway between Calgary and Medicine Hat and has a population roughly the same size as a place in South Carolina named Clemson.

Ajou’s family hails from Sudan and he was born in Calgary. In an effort to increase his visibility, Ajou moved to Florida and played at Clearwater International Academy for his senior season. During the summer before his senior season, he attended head coach Dabo Swinney’s high school camp and even though he was raw, the coaching staff saw the potential and offered him a scholarship.

He accepted, and played sparingly last season, hauling in two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown while playing 113 snaps over 10 games.

Standing 6-3 and weighing in at 230 pounds, he has a freakish ability to jump and his speed is undeniable and Rodgers loves what he sees.

“Be on the lookout for him, for sure,” Rodgers said following Clemson’s Pro Day. “He’s very tall and long. He’s strong. He’s gotten a lot stronger since he’s gotten here. He’s up to 230 right now, so he’s a monster. He’s fast, long, so whenever you throw the ball up to him, he’s coming down with it, too. I was at the scrimmage (last week) and he had a nice snag in the end zone and he scored. He’s been having a great spring, so if he just continues to grind and run with it, he’s going to have a great season.”

Swinney said that Ajou has indeed taken a step forward.

“Ajou is a guy that has really taken advantage of his opportunity,” Swinney said last week. “He’s one of the most improved and he should be. He had a long way to go from being a real, truly functional, dependable, confident receiver. The light has really come on for that young man. He’s making some strong strides. I’m super encouraged from what I’ve seen from him.”

Offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said that Ajou just needs to learn to be consistent.

“I think today was a good day for Ajou, you saw him make some plays,” Elliott said earlier this month. “But we all know having done this for a while, dealing with college-aged guys, when he is more consistent with the little things off the field, then it's going to transition to the field. And for him, it's not the big things— he can run, jump, make every catch, he's physical, he's got even bigger.

“It's just the consistency to be able to do that play in and play out, and that's where he has to grow up. Once he figures it out and says I'm going to make every aspect of my life as important as football is, then guess what? Football is going to elevate. But if you don't, if you're a different person somewhere else and you don't want to be on time, you don't want to do the little things, you don't want to take care of your body, then guess what? Your football is going to suffer. I don't care how much you love the game or how hard you work on it– you are who you are.”