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Clemson Football: Five Seniors to Watch in 2021

Like most Clemson football senior classes in the past 10 years, the 2021 group prepare for their final year in orange as accomplished as any other, and a few of them could have a big impact on the success of the team in the first season without Trevor Lawrence.

As the veterans of the team, virtually every senior will have some type of leadership role going into the season. The coaching staff will rely heavily on this group throughout the year, as most FBS football programs tend to do. Here are five of the seniors for Tiger fans to watch that could have a potential boom or bust impact for Coach Swinney:

Nolan Turner

Turner, a safety, is going into his sixth season with the Tigers now after opting to come back for his last year of eligibility, but only just saw a massive share of playing time in 2020 after the departure of Isaiah Simmons. The lack of a large share of snaps prior to last year was evident at times with teams attacking Turner on the backend of the defense, especially later in the year when schemed into single coverage. Turner comes back with a chance to lead this secondary back to an elite level after a fairly large drop-off last season, and gets a CB room that's more experienced, and shouldn't leave him isolated as often. 

Lyn-J Dixon

Dixon has waited his time on the sidelines watching Travis Etienne take a majority of the snaps for the past few years, but isn't the only RB in the room anymore that has done the same thing. Dixon comes into spring practice as the team's returning best running back in terms of yards and was only third in rushing during 2020 behind Etienne and Lawrence. Dixon will have fellow senior Darien Rencher and junior Chez Mellusi right on his tail all spring practice, and while Dixon has all the talent and experience in Tony Elliot's offense to win the job, there are others who are younger and not very far behind him with a chance now to prove themselves in Etienne's absence. The RB group should be among the most interesting to watch when practice starts February 24th, and Dixon seems odds on favorite to win the job, with competition lurking.

Derion Kendrick

Kendrick enters spring practice as the No. 1 cornerback for the Tigers, regardless of the fact it's only going to be his third season playing the position. Kendrick came to Clemson as a receiver and switched to the defensive side in 2019, and hasn't looked back since. His high-level ball skills as a corner from playing WR make him a potential pick 6 or scoop and score threat every snap, but Kendrick returned for another year for good reasons. The corner room around him has gotten a year older, and the top 5 options on the outside for the Tigers are all upperclassmen. Another year under Brent Venables should benefit Kendrick tenfold, as his tackling still needs improvement after time spent at receiver, and it should help Kendrick that Venables will be able to use a lot more zone variant defenses with the depth of the defensive line, with its potential ability to generate pressure on the QB by itself. If Kendrick can learn to maximize his speed to his advantage and improve on things like driving to the ball on breaking patterns, he can become a corner opposing teams look to avoid for a majority of games next year and work himself into an even better NFL prospect moving forward.

Xavier Thomas

Xavier Thomas has one more year to prove himself worthy of the hype he entered the program with. Thomas has had a long list of injuries since joining Clemson and has also dealt with COVID-19 issues since the pandemic began. He enters spring practice fully healthy but now stands amongst a very talented and seasoned defensive line unit. The Tigers return all 11 starters on defense from last year and have depth off the edge that could see him lose snaps. Thomas will likely be fresh when he plays his snaps but will have to make the most of them, something he hasn't been able to do consistently in his tenure as a Tiger. Thomas still possesses elite speed for his size of the edge and has rare flexibility when moving around offensive tackles, part of the reason he was such a highly ranked recruit. If he can flash that talent that got him to Clemson in the first place, there's no doubt he'll find himself attracting numerous scouts once the season finds its end.

Braden Galloway

Galloway could become new quarterback DJ Uiagalelei's best friend on the field in his final year, offering the QB a 6-foot-4, 240-pound frame flying over the middle as a safety valve tight end. With the number of options at receiver this year, Galloway could also see the season go the opposite way with limited targets but still will remain a big-play threat at all times for Tony Elliot's offense. Galloway offers a great run after catch speed for his size but could use this year to make sure his blocking is ready for the amount of two tight end sets he'll see in the NFL. Galloway also threatens opposing teams in the red zone like no other and could play the Kyle Pitts role for the Tigers when the season starts.