2018 Orange and White Spring Game Primer
The last time we saw the Clemson football team in a game was on Jan. 1, 2018 against the Alabama Crimson Tide in New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl.
Tavien Feaster told us at practice a few days ago that “it felt like we (the team) had just come off the field in New Orleans.”
He’s right.
Time has flown by, and it’s hard to believe that the Spring Game is here for everyone to get their first look at the 2018 edition of the Clemson Tigers.
There’s a lot of excitement on campus as to what this team could do when it comes to the fall, but, there’s still a long way to go as the dog days of summer and fall camp approach before the Sept. 1 opener against Furman.
Today will serve as your “football fix” for the next four months and we wanted to give you a few things to look out for in today’s spring game at 2:30 from Death Valley.
The new freshmen
We’ve got three guys on defense who you should keep an eye on.
Xavier Thomas, who will be playing for the Orange team, K.J. Henry, who will be playing for the White team and Mike Jones Jr., who will also be playing for the Orange team.
All three players who were highly recruited out of high school have all the intangibles to be special players, although neither has played a single snap of college football.
For Thomas and Henry, it will be interesting to see them go up against an offensive line that is still developing for the Tigers in a game-like atmosphere. Mike Jones may be a guy that could push for a backup role. Should he perform well today and shows progress in the summer Jones might become a storyline heading into fall camp.
Moving to the other side of the ball, the one guy who will be fun to watch is Derion Kendrick, on the White team.
Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott told us last week that he has “done a really good job in practice (and) a good job in scrimmages.”
Scott told us that Kendrick has seen some work at punt return, a spot Clemson has not been strong in at times, and his speed and quickness should give the Tigers a boost at that position along with his ability to make plays catching the ball.
Offensive line
Senior Mitch Hyatt returns as the leader of the offensive line, a group that lost two guards from last year’s team.
A number of new faces on the offensive line have been battling it out in practice.
The Tigers brought in five-star freshman Jackson Carman, who picked Clemson over Ohio St. during the early signing period. Keep your eye on who he gets matched up against today and what positions he plays.
Carman could potentially see time at guard and tackle. It will be interesting to see how he fares against some of the top defensive linemen in college football.
As far as the offensive line as a whole, co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott told us last week that the offensive line is “seeing every front that’s ever been drawn up in the history of college football.”
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who will be coaching both teams today, will most likely not tip his hand too much as far as schemes due to this being a nationally televised game.
The battle at tight end
Milan Richard and Garrett Williams are both returning for the Tigers this year. Richard was a first-year starter last year who was a safety valve for Kelly Bryant in the quick passing game as well as the run game.
However, Garrett Williams has driven rave reviews from Jeff Scott in his route running in saying that it’s “something he’s really had to work on and he’s improved.”
Fans will be able to see him today in his routes to see if he can be a quick go-to-target for the quarterbacks.
Then there's Braden Galloway. The freshman out of Seneca, S.C. suffered an injury and has been held out of a good chunk of spring. Head coach Dabo Swinney was excited to get him on the field after spring break, so we’ll have to see how much action he’ll get today.
Wide Receivers
Replacing Ray-Ray McCloud and Deon Cain has been one topic of conversation throughout the spring among Clemson fans.
“Wide Receiver U” however, is in good hands with guys like Hunter Renfrow, Amari Rodgers, Tee Higgins and Diondre Overton, who have been pushing each other in practice to go to the next level.
With a guy like Kendrick, who we mentioned earlier coming in, the competition will be fun to watch on both sides against a competitive Clemson secondary.
The ongoing quarterback battle
The conversation of the spring undoubtedly has been about Kelly Bryant, Hunter Johnson, Chase Brice, and the freshman phenom Cartersville, Georgia in Trevor Lawrence.
All four quarterbacks will get their chance to show what they can do today in front of a nationally televised audience and everyone in Death Valley.
The most significant things concerning the quarterbacks will be who can manage the system best, make the right reads and avoid negative plays.
There can’t be a whole lot of stock taken out of how the quarterbacks perform in a spring game, because the playbook is dramatically cut down and the coaches are trying to get a feel for each guy can do.
It’s going be fun to watch them compete.
Dabo Swinney told us on Monday that he "is excited about this spring game as he has been about any of them.”
This one should be fun to watch.