No Sophomore Slump For Thomas
CLEMSON—Clemson defensive end Xavier Thomas is only a sophomore, has already become a household name for Tiger fans and the media alike.
An explosive edge rusher who made an immediate impact as a reserve in 2018, earning near-unanimous Freshman All-American acclaim. Thomas entered 2019 credited with 43 tackles (10.5 for loss), 3.5 sacks and two pass breakups in 304 snaps over 15 games. and was selected as a second-team Preseason All-American for 2019 by both Phil Steele and Athlon.
And he is not suffering a sophomore slump.
Entering the Tigers' seventh game of the season this Saturday at Louisville, Thomas has already amassed 15 tackles, two sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss—making him a special talent.
Maybe even the most talented defender on the team.
"He's probably ahead of Isaiah Simmons as a red-shirt freshman but more like Isaiah was as a sophomore," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "He makes plays when he's in the wrong spot. He got a minus on the two-point play but ... what a play. He made a play. That's who he is. That's what he is. Very few people can do that. It's little things. He is made of the right stuff. He's fast, he's explosive and plays with great effort. You love those things because you can coach the rest. What he has you cannot coach. He's just a freaky athlete. He has improved all year."
But even with Thomas flying all over the field and making highlight-reel plays, according to Swinney he still has a long way to go before he becomes the player he can be—or before he even grades a winner.
"He did not grade well early. Now his grades have become more consistent," Swinney said. "He still isn't being graded a winner but he's right at that line, yet he'll lead the group in production points. He's not close to what he will be. He's still learning a lot of football. He was at Wilson and then he was at IMG. He was moving around and didn't come in with a great foundation. He's a great kid and has a super attitude. He has improved a ton. Hopefully this time next year he is a complete guy like Isaiah is now. It just takes time, but he has done a great job. All of those guys have."
Even with all of the praise Swinney has been heaping on Thomas, the player who has caught his eye as the player to watch out for is redshirt freshman K.J. Henry.
Henry approached Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney following the Tigers' game at Wake Forest and told Swinney that he was done.
“I obviously knew they could come back so I knew what I was getting myself into,” Henry said. “Coming here as a freshman, you think you wish they didn’t come back so I can play. But it was a blessing in disguise for those guys to come back and really teach us how it was supposed to be done.
"Because I know we definitely wouldn’t have been ready for this stage without the way they prepared us.”
But Swinney was not totally convinced and only agreed to allow Henry to redshirt on one condition: the defensive line did not suffer any injuries.
"It totally caught me off guard," Swinney said. "I haven't had a lot of guys who wanted to redshirt, let alone a five-star freshman ... but he understood what he needed to do."
Henry spent the remainder of the season in the Tigers' "Power Hour," for those players redshirting to help them get stronger. But even the son of a college football coach was not prepared for the shock of college football.
Now, as a redshirt freshman, Henry is showing the coaching staff that everyone made the right choice.
"K.J. Henry is probably the most improved guy," Swinney said. "I'm super pumped about K.J. Henry. He has transformed himself over where he was last year. He's very self-aware. He comes from a very good football foundation. He was more of a basketball guy. K.J. needed to develop physically but he was already in a good place mentally. He's playing faster and freely."
