Clemson Season Preview: Passing Offense

Cade Klubnik has the keys to a new offense this season under Garrett Riley's leadership.

by Ryan Kantor - Contributor - Fri Aug 11 07:00:16 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson has been blessed with outstanding quarterback play throughout most of the Dabo Swinney era. Tajh Boyd set ACC records, Deshaun Watson led the program to greatness, and Trevor Lawrence somehow pushed them even higher. They all benefited from excellent wide receiver play to the point that Clemson was dubbed “Wide Receiver U.”

Unfortunately, the Tigers struggled at quarterback and wide receiver for the past two seasons. After averaging just 191.2 passing yards per game (YPG) in 2021, they improved to 232.4 passing YPG in 2022. While that improvement sounds good, it still left them ranked just 66th nationally. More importantly, the passing game completely disappeared in several key moments – most painfully in the second half against South Carolina.

Last year’s quarterback, DJ Uiagalelei, recently complained that there was a lack of trust between former offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter and himself, saying the offense was “basic” and they didn’t open it up 100% because “they don’t trust the quarterback.” That will no longer be a problem as neither remains with the program. Clemson now turns to two Texans to lead the offense.

Dabo Swinney pulled the coup of the offseason by getting Garrett Riley to leave the TCU Horned Frogs and come to Clemson fresh off a National Championship Game appearance. Despite not recruiting at the same level as Clemson, TCU averaged 45 more yards and 5.6 more points per game than the Tigers while playing a statistically tougher strength of schedule. His offense is known for its explosiveness (they ranked first in plays of 50+ yards). This offseason, he has talked a lot about shrinking the playbook and focusing on executing a smaller number of plays better. Streeter did a lot of good things at Clemson, but it is hard to see this as anything but a bold, necessary refresh.

At quarterback, former five-star Cade Klubnik took over early in the ACC Championship last year and will carry the job into this season. As excellent as he looked against the Tar Heels (20-24 with 1 TD), he looked like a true freshman against the Volunteers in the Orange Bowl (30-54 with 2 INTs and four sacks). His pocket presence was out of sync, often causing drives to stall.

Klubnik doesn’t sound overly bothered by the Orange Bowl loss though. Instead, he sees it as fuel to propel the team to big things this year. Stemming from that performance, he cited doing cone drills and working with offensive and defensive linemen over the past three months to improve his pocket presence. In a conference with Drake Maye, Jordan Travis, Riley Leonard, and Brennan Armstrong playing QB, he isn’t going to garner all the headlines, but he has a chance to provide Clemson with a major improvement at the most important position in the sport.

To do that, he will need help from his wide receivers. To an extent, one might blame the quarterback or scheme for the wide receivers’ struggles, but the eye test and PFF player grades strongly point to the receivers being part of the problem for the passing game. With the staff’s decision not to bring reinforcements in from the transfer portal, we know who is being counted on to step up in 2023. Dabo said the big five were Beaux Collins – who he called out as the key guy in the group – Antonio Williams, Adam Randall, Cole Turner, and Brannon Spector.

If you believe three of these five will put together strong, complete seasons, you should pick Klubnik to exceed 3,000 passing yards and 25 TDs and Clemson to make the playoff. There are reasons for concern though. Collins has struggled to stay healthy and has only played like a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver for a few games at a time. Randall hasn’t flashed yet, as injuries left him at less than 100% last season. Turner looks like a speedy deep threat but is still inexperienced coming off his redshirt season. Meanwhile, Spector has plenty of experience but only 347 yards in his four-year Clemson career. Williams was excellent as a freshman and should be expected to be featured in a lot of different ways, but who else will step up?

As I wrote about in the rushing offense preview, Clemson has two top-notch running backs and a veteran offensive line to go along with the exciting new offensive coordinator and quarterback. A loaded tight end room headlined by Jake Briningstool, who should be a major factor in the passing game, also helps the cause. With all those pieces in place, the biggest questions are about the wide receivers not named Antonio Williams. If they can stay healthy and form one of the better WR corps in the ACC, the offense takes on a whole new look and can make huge strides in 2023.