WR Spring Preview: Clemson's Elite Group Adds More Talent

The Clemson Tiger's are heading into the 2020 season with only eight scholarship players at wide receiver. Veteran's Justyn Ross and Amari Rodgers will lead the way while Joseph Ngata and Frank Ladson Jr. look to break into the national spotlight.

Editor’s note: @ClemsonSI is running a series of 10 positional breakdowns each day previewing spring football.

In a repeat of last year, Trevor Lawrence had to say goodbye to his favorite third-down target, as Tee Higgins declared for the NFL draft. It was not easy for the Tigers to replace the consistent and reliable Hunter Renfrow after the 2018 season. It will be even more difficult for them to replace one of the top receivers in the nation in Tee Higgins. Higgins was a tall and sure-handed outside receiver who emerged as Lawrence’s go-to guy when Clemson needed the yards the most. His efforts this past year earned him a spot on the First-Team All ACC Offense.

When Higgins was off the field, the Tigers offense felt it. How successful the Tiger staff is at finding and building up young talent will be in the spotlight for the wide receiver position in 2020 as two former elite recruits, Joe Ngata and Frank Ladson Jr. will look to take on bigger roles and two extremely talented freshmen, E.J. Williams and Ajou Ajou, join the mix.

Here’s a spring preview of Clemson’s wide receivers:

Returning players: Cornell Powell (R-Sr.), Amari Rodgers (Sr.), Justyn Ross (Jr.), Joe Ngata (So.), Frank Ladson Jr. (So.), Brannon Spector (R-Fr.)

Newcomers: E.J. Williams (Fr.), Ajou Ajou (Fr.)

Departures: TJ Chase, Diondre Overton, Carter Groomes, Tee Higgins

Expectations: Dabo Swinney has been able to land commitments from top high school receivers from all over the country. Now it’s time to see who will step up and excel at the college level. Justyn Ross showed glimpses of greatness during his freshman season but hit a sort of plateau in his sophomore season. Now that Tee Higgins has left for the NFL, it is his time to become a top receiver in the country as he will be expected to play at no less than an all-conference level.

Amari Rodgers will again be relied upon to play the slot position and provide a healthy change of pace from deep sideline passes to the taller outside receivers. This could be the year that Amari becomes the favorite in third-down situations.

It is currently unknown what Cornell Powell will decide as he has another year of eligibility left. TJ Chase has already decided to enter the transfer portal and this could be an option for Powell as Joe Ngata and Frank Ladson Jr. both finished the 2019 season with significantly more snaps.

Key position battle: Clemson’s base offensive look will likely consist of Ross, Ngata and Rodgers. After that, this group is no longer as deep as they once were. As a whole the Tigers lost four players and only added two, leaving a total of eight scholarship players left for 2020. The Tigers are currently over their allotted 85 total scholarships for the team and while some believe Powell will transfer, the wide receiver position is not one that can afford to lose experienced players right now.

The staff will have to battle to keep this team intact or add to it. The most significant player battle will likely be on the incoming freshmen. Another factor at play is that of the tight end position. Now that Braden Galloway is back and Davis Allen has another year of experience, Clemson could opt to use more two tight-end looks in 2020 or even use Galloway in a slot position instead of a receiver.

Areas to improve: The wide receiver position is largely dependant on the quarterback play and the coordinator’s play calling. Last year, Trevor Lawrence seemed to be overly dependant on the deep ball or the sideline pass to the big receivers. As a result, there was a significant gap between targets for the No. 1 and 2 receivers and the No 3. And 4 receivers.

Clemson was not sacked very often in 2019 but when they were sacked it was statistically higher on passing plays while on passing downs. This could have been due to Lawrence looking deep too often or the routes called taking too long to develop.

Focusing back on just what the receivers can control, the group can improve on getting open more quickly across the middle of the field. Many times it would seem as if Lawrence ignored the middle because the player crossing was not getting enough space.

This group is stacked with talent and it will be important for them to stay motivated and push to improve even if that improvement is going from a score of 99 to 100.

Impact player: To avoid being repetitive and selecting Ross for this role, Ngata has a great chance to explode on to the national spotlight in 2020. He was on the field for 305 snaps in 2019 and that number will likely jump up to over 500 in 2020. Last year Ngata finished eight games with one catch or less. This year he is going to get his fair share of chances to make incredible plays. His average catches per game should also jump to between four or five per game.

Player to step up: Justyn Ross will need to get back to the 2018 playoff version of himself. After putting up a combined 301 receiving yards in the playoffs as a freshman, Ross went over 100 yards receiving only once as a sophomore. Ross also managed to have 20 more receptions in 2019 but finished with 135 less receiving yards than in 2018