Confirmed: Randall Suffers Serious Knee Injury
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True freshman Adam Randall suffered a major setback during the Tigers' practice last week. A knee injury sustained Friday during the Tigers' practice has the talented, NFL-bodied receiver (Dabo Swinney's words) on the sidelines for the spring game certainly and more than likely through the fall.
"Adam sustained a knee injury in practice on Friday," Dabo Swinney said in a statement from Clemson. "He is expected to undergo surgery to repair a torn ACL later this week, after which time I know he will begin attacking his rehab. Adam has had a tremendous spring, and we look forward to having him back on the field once he has returned to full health.”
Randall caught the eye of head coach Dabo Swinney, who doesn’t remember seeing anyone as ready-made for the NFL as Randall walking his high school halls.
“He's rare. I mean, I don't know about you, I didn't see many guys at Pelham High School walking the halls looking like that,” Swinney said. “I mean, yeah. He's bigger than Sammy (Watkins). Sammy was a physical specimen, but he's just bigger. I mean, literally, you could put him in the NFL locker room anywhere in the country and you'd never pick him out. You might pick (Hunter) Renfrow. You'd never pick that guy. I mean, Adam Randall is... And the cool thing is he's just a kid. He looks like he should be in an NFL locker room and literally would fit no problem, but he's just a kid and he just has this sweet spirit to him and he's just learning every day, he's hungry.”
It is that kind of hunger that has impressed Swinney almost as much as his NFL-ready body.
“He's got what I call the eye of the tiger. He's got the eye of the tiger,” Swinney said. “It's very natural to him. He loves to compete. He loves to coach. He loves to be coached. He's really come in here with a great foundation fundamentally and technically. I mean, he's one of those guys that has shown up ready to play. And we haven't had many of those guys over the years. Had a lot of great players, but we've only had... I'd put him in that group. I think we've had three guys show up in 19 years here that you just get out of the way, they're ready to play. He's in the process of getting all the details down, but physically he's ready and he's incredibly gifted. So excited about that.
“Sammy, (Justyn) Ross, and Beaux Collins, that's the three guys that showed up here. And when I say ready, I'm talking about fundamentally, technically, physically, mentally just get it like it's second nature, release techniques, you name it, just ready. And then, all the other guys we've had, who've obviously had a bunch of great players, but they were all lacking something. They had to get stronger; they physically weren't where they needed to be; mentally they weren't where they needed to be. They were basketball players. They needed to learn how to be a receiver or they were a quarterback like Renfrow that needed to learn how to be a receiver. And he weighed 150 pounds. I mean, whatever. We've had all across the board guys that developed.”
According to SI All-American, "If you could design the ideal Clemson receiver in a lab it would look a lot like Randall. His all-around game is outstanding, and he’s a perfect fit for the Clemson spread offense. Randall has the size that has been such a great asset for so many Tiger wideouts, and he has legit stretch-the-field speed. Randall gets as good of a jump off the line as any receiver in the country, and he also possesses a second gear that most wideouts sporting his frame simply don’t have. His ability to win contested throws on the outside is top-notch, and Randall is a long wideout that gives his quarterback an impressive catch radius. Randall’s power and size also combines with his long speed to make him dynamic after the catch."
It is clear to see that Swinney agrees with the analysis.
“Those guys don't come around very often. I mean and again, we've had a lot of great, great players that have developed into first-rounders and high picks and so forth,” Swinney said. “But you know, Adam is one that, once we get the details down and get him mentally where he needs to be, he's physically and fundamentally, and technically just very advanced.
The Tigers, who went 10-3 in 2021 and finished 14th in the final Associated Press Poll, are the fourth team on FanDuel Sportsbook's list to win it all in 2022. Only reigning national champ Georgia (+200), runner-up Alabama (+200) and Ohio State (+800) are ahead of Clemson at +1000.
