CBS Sports says Clemson's offense will be one of the nation's most improved in 2023

Garrett Riley is seen as the biggest addition and reason that the Tigers will improve greatly on offense in 2023.

by TigerNet Staff - Mon Jun 26 13:57:05 GMT-04:00 2023

CBS Sports identified the units set to be the most improved in 2023 and Garrett Riley's new offense is in that group.

"Riley was such a big addition for Dabo Swinney, who broke away from his past strategy and went out of house to find a coordinator," said CBS Sports' Will Backus. "One of the brightest offensive minds in college football, Riley was instrumental in TCU's run to the College Football Playoff National Championship. Duggan was named a Heisman Trophy finalist under his tutelage and the Horned Frogs produced five NFL Draft picks on offense. Now, Riley gets his hands on one of the sport's brightest young stars in former five-star QB Cade Klubnik and an offense that is in desperate need of some innovation.

"If Riley can unlock Klubnik's full talent and a true No. 1 receiver emerges -- there are options with the likes of Adam Randall, Beaux Collins and Antonio Williams -- this Clemson offense could look a lot more like the ones piloted by Trevor Lawrence a few years back. Phil Mafah and Will Shipley make for an excellent running back duo that should help smooth over any growing pains."

The teams on the list were "only programs that finished outside of the top 20 in total defense or offense in 2022...(and) coaching changes, additions via traditional recruiting, the transfer portal and relative losses to returning talent were all weighed."

Clemson ranked 48th in yards per game (410) and 30th in points per game last season (33.2), which was improved from No. 99 in yards (359) and No. 82 in points from 2021 (26.3).

The Tigers ranked 39th (2022) and 71st (2021) in the last two seasons according to the SP+ ratings offensively.

The other units to make the list for CBS included Texas' defense, Notre Dame's offense, Oklahoma's defense and LSU's defense.