Clemson Tigers' PFF Grades and Snap Counts From Their Week 1 Blowout Loss to LSU

This past Saturday was tough for the Clemson Tigers, as they suffered their worst loss under head coach Dabo Swinney, falling to No. 11 LSU, 51-10.

Initially, Clemson was certainly considered the underdog, but almost nobody expected the contest to end up how it did.

The ACC squad took an early 3-0 lead after an interception by Ashton Hampton on the second play of the game, which set up a 49-yard field goal for Nolan Hauser. Unfortunately for Clemson, though, there weren't many positives after that, as LSU scored 51 points unanswered in response.

That said, let’s take a look at the PFF grades for each player who saw action yesterday; snap counts will be in parentheses next to the player grades.

Offense

WR Juju Preston: 82.1 (11)
RB David Eziomume: 75.5 (4)
RB Jarvis Green: 72.4 (7)
TE Logan Brooking: 63.5 (8)
WR T.J. Moore: 60.6 (40)
RB Gideon Davidson: 60.5 (28)
WR Naeem Burroughs: 60.0 (3)
WR Bryant Wesco Jr.: 59.9 (41)
WR Tristan Smith: 59.8 (5)
WR Gordon Sellars III: 59.7 (9)
TE Christian Bentancur: 58.0 (25)
OG Elyjah Thurmon: 57.4 (49)
WR Tyler Brown: 55.2 (29)
C Harris Sewell: 54.9 (49)
OT Brayden Jacobs: 53.0 (49)
OT Easton Ware: 52.4 (49)
RB Chris Johnson Jr.: 52.3 (10)
TE Olsen Patt-Henry: 50.6 (25)
QB Tait Reynolds: 49.3 (16)
OG Ronan O’Connell: 41.2 (49)
QB Christopher Vizzina: 31.6 overall grade (33)

As you can tell, it was a pretty terrible debut for just about everyone on the offensive side of the ball outside of Preston, Eziomume and Green.

The trio combined for just 22 total snaps after entering the game during the final drive. In the limited action, Green carried the ball four times for 21 yards while Preston caught one pass for 25 yards before Eziomume capped the drive off with an 11-yard touchdown. Of note, this production came against LSU’s backups.

While they had a solid performance, I don't expect their roles to change much. The same goes for the rest of the offense, outside of the quarterback position, which is amidst a battle yet again, and the offensive line, considering fifth-year lineman Collin Sadler is trending toward a Week 2 return.

Defense

LB Fletcher Cothran: 85.3 (13)
LB Jeremiah Alexander: 80.1 (55)
LB CJ Kubah-Taylor: 76.6 (13)
DE London Merritt: 73.7 (26)
S Jerome Carter III: 73.5 (60)
CB Elliot Washington II: 71.1 (79)
LB Sammy Brown: 68.4 (83)
S Kylon Griffin: 66.0 (13)
DT Markus Strong: 65.9 (25)
DT Devarrick Woods: 64.6 (19)
DT Champ Thompson: 64.2 (30)
DL Caden Story: 64.1 (25)
CB Ashton Hampton: 62.9 (81)
DT Dietrick Pennington: 62.0 (6)
DE Ari Watford: 60.7 (7)
DE CJ Wesley: 59.7 (17)
DT Andy Burburija: 59.5 (44)
S Corey Myrick: 59.1 (65)
CB Branden Strozier: 57.3 (22)
DT Amare Adams: 57.2 (48)
S Ronan Hanafin: 55.9 (57)
S Jakarrion Kenan: 55.7 (7)
DT Kam Cody: 55.2 (5)
DE Darien Mayo: 54.8 (31)
DE Will Heldt: 54.7 (48)
CB Misun Kelley: 54.6 (37)
DE Jahiem Lawson: 54.0 (37)
DE Armon Mason: 52.4 (11)
LB Kobe McCloud: 46.9 (23)
CB Donovan Starr: 44.5 (10)
CB Corian Gipson: 43.0 (54)
DT Makhi Williams-Lee: 33.9 (5)

Similar to the offense, it was a pretty bad debut all around for the defense, which gave up 644 total yards (335 passing, 309 rushing). The Tigers used a lot of rotations, especially on the defensive line, but nothing really seemed to work.

Some of the leaders on the defensive side of the ball, such as Brown, Heldt and Lawson, were expected to produce much more than they did. However, the silver lining from these grades is the linebacker room, which was one of the biggest question marks entering this season. Cothran and Kubah-Taylor were facing backups, but they still proved how valuable they could be as depth pieces. Alexander also impressed, proving he's well capable of starting alongside Brown by logging the second-highest grade among the 32 players. Merritt, Washington and Carter, all transfers, performed well too, and I wouldn't be surprised if Merritt sees more playing time over the next few weeks.

I don't necessarily see much changing in terms of starters outside of possibly Gipson at nickelback. However, with Strong expected to be "out for a while," along with Burburija and Adams struggling as starters, it wouldn't surprise me if the Tigers mixed up the interior a bit more. Plan on seeing a semi-similar amount of rotations moving forward, too.

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