Clemson Optimistic About Status of Frank Ladson Jr for Notre Dame

To say the Clemson wide receiver room has been injury ravaged this season might be underselling it.

It all started when the Tigers lost superstar wideout Justyn Ross for the year back in the spring. The hope was the combination of Joseph Ngata and Frank Ladson Jr. could help offset some of the loss in production, but that just hasn't been the case.

Both of the sophomore receivers have seen their seasons derailed by nagging injuries. Ngata has been dealing with an abdominal issue that finally required a surgical procedure a few weeks back and Ladson has been dealing with an ankle that has forced him to miss multiple games.

Offensive coordinator Tony Elliott says that while nothing is official as of yet, the Tigers are hopeful to have one of those guys back for this weekend's ACC Championship Game against Notre Dame.

"We'll know more this week on those guys," Elliott said. "I anticipate that Joe may be a little bit longer, he is coming off of surgery. Optimistic about Frank, but still we got a week to go. Got to get those guys back involved."

Getting Ladson back would be big for this Clemson offense. The sophomore receiver has 17 catches for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season and his presence gives the team a burner on the outside that can stretch the field, something this offense has missed not consistently having on the outside this season.

However, Elliott says that with or without Ladson and Ngata, the Tigers will have to go to battle with who they have and that he is fully confident that some of the other playmakers like Cornell Powell and Amari Rodgers can once again lead the way.

He says they will also need guys like E.J. Williams and Brannon Spector to step up and make plays, as well as the tight ends Braden Galloway and Davis Allen. Then there is running back Travis Etienne, who Elliott says will also need to once again be a factor in the passing game.

"Not sure what our situation will be but what we got is what we got," Elliott said. "We're going to go into it, I mean obviously 17 got to continue to lead us. 3 has got to lead us, and lean on number 6 to make some big plays, some clutch plays, like he's been doing. And get 13 involved. 84 and 88 got to be special. And then the running back's also got to be special in the pass game."