Freshman receiver, already 222 pounds, drawing NFL comparisons

Randall has put together an impressive spring.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Mar 18 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – Offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter’s eyes lit up Wednesday night when he was asked about freshman wide receiver Adam Randall. Randall, out of Myrtle Beach, might be the most impressive freshman so far this spring, drawing NFL comparisons from his head coach.

Randall enrolled in Clemson in January as a 5-star player and No. 79 player in the nation by PrepStar, which also listed him as the No. 7 receiver in the nation and No. 6 player in South Carolina. He was ranked No. 102 in the nation by 247Sports, which rated him as the 17th-best wide receiver and fourth-best player in South Carolina, and ranked No. 114 overall by ESPN.com, including rating him as the 15th-best wide receiver and fifth-best player in South Carolina.

Randall crafted a strong senior year with 1,267 receiving yards on 65 catches with 16 touchdowns, and he added 325 yards rushing on just 45 attempts (7.2 yards per rush) and seven touchdowns, giving him 1,592 yards from scrimmage and 23 touchdowns. He had perhaps his best game on senior night with 10 catches for 255 yards and five touchdowns vs. North Myrtle Beach, and he had four games his senior year with at least 180 yards receiving.

Observers said that Randall caught a long pass in Wednesday’s scrimmage and then ran over a would-be tackler on his way for the score.

"He's been excellent. I mean, he just naturally does some things," Dabo Swinney said. "First of all, physically, you could put him in an NFL locker room and he'd fit right in, but then you realize he's just a young player. Man, he made a couple plays today that were special, but just some little things as far as just some technique and some release technique. And just a lot coming at him with five days of installation, but he's exactly what we hoped he'd be. He's going to be...great."

Streeter said that Randall clocks in north of 220 pounds already.

“Adam has had a great spring. He is a big, big receiver. Physical. Great hands,” Streeter said. “When I think of Adam Randall, I think of grit. I think of a guy that is working his butt off, He is probably like, 'I can't believe I am getting this many reps.' But he is working his tail off. A lot to clean up technically, but he is doing a great job of retaining it and then having that big body. He has to be about 222 pounds right now, and he moves. He has been really special this first half of the spring.”

Swinney said that Randall can play any receiver spot, even though with his body size he looks like a natural boundary receiver.

“Adam is a big physical guy that can handle himself in the boundary," Swinney said. "But he's got all the skills he needs to play to the field or in the slot. He can really do all of them. I mean, Adam's played quarterback, wildcat, I mean he's done a little bit everything."