Ranking The Clemson Roster Strength

[Music] foreign [Music] um yeah so yeah we're referencing a uh an article from originally from Steve Lassen of the Athlon Sports uh but this was it was uh basically a Rewritten on 24 7 Sports by Brad Crawford basically headlining the uh the the top 10 uh most lethal rosters in college football um and so basically what what uh Steve did was he took the five-year recruiting average of every single team and it basically just ranked them based on that and and kind of as an overall a measure of of the roster strength and Clemson came in at number seven numero seven so Clemson has the seventh most uh most lethal in quotation marks uh roster in all of college football yeah I think they're slotted right behind Texas and uh forgot I think Texas was tied with somebody else but I yeah Texas A M are tied it's at five okay makes sense um so and the reason why we we bring it up because because I think there's a huge split in the Clemson fan base about how good Clemson's roster really is there's um you know because uh when you when you point to all of the uh the deficiencies that have you know cropped up over the past couple of Seasons it's been hard for for fans to really you know put into perspective how talented the roster actually is and whether you know the guys we have right now are really that good or are capable of being that good yeah and so I I just kind of wanted to bring it because I thought it was interesting oh I mean we knew that you know it's basically kind of like the 24 7 sports team Talent composite but instead of using the individual players recruiting ranking it's just an average of the the uh your overall finish uh each year um so it's kind of like a different way of looking at it uh but either way Clemson comes in as you know a top 10 team in terms of Team Talent which they've been the past a couple of seasons on on both the composite and that this new you know lethal rating or whatever you want to call it Lisa because it's a uh it's an interesting question and I wanted to get and you know you guys in the comments so I can get your thoughts in as well how talented is Clemson's roster really in my opinion you yeah you as well yeah yeah yeah how yeah get you yeah get you get your comments in the comment section right now I want to see uh how everybody's thinking um in my opinion Clemson's Clemson's roster is Elite at most positions right um you know within every roster you have your shortcomings you got your positions that are a little bit thinner than others right we've talked about it on this show about how we're kind of thin and defensive in we're kind of a little thin at linebacker as well like when you see who kind of the depth that left Clemson and transferred out you know we still got those big name guys those big name starters right but some of those guys some of that death death excuse me transferred out right there's a lot of talk with Clemson wide receivers and can they step up can they get the job done um you know I've read several articles this this past off season you know about you know kind of the defense refocusing right and and really uh the defensive backs being held accountable by the coaching staff and you know just flat out saying we weren't good enough last year and we need to get better so stuff like that when stuff like that comes out and you hear your coaching staff talking like that and you got some fresh blood on offense and you're talking about you know a fresh new offense that that definitely suits the quarterback that you currently have that just became your brand new starter literally tailored fit to him the kind of offense that that Garrett Riley runs when you take all that into account in my mind and you think about the talent that Clemson does have do we have some shortcomings yes but we're Elite at running back okay I think we're getting better A lot better at offensive line I think a lot of people don't realize the talent that we have at offensive line and I think we will continue to build the depth there wide receiver um you know there's definitely some question marks there right there's some young guys that are gonna have to step up uh but our recruiting don't doesn't lie right average signing class over the last five years is 7.8 for Clemson 7.8 in the country so that puts us at seventh in the country in recruiting over the last five seasons there's not very many teams uh that can say that right you know only six teams are ahead of us in recruiting over the last five seasons that's huge Clemson's roster is littered with Talent um we just gotta turn the corner we've had a couple Seasons where things didn't go quite our way we had a lot of injuries uh guys haven't you know developed for whatever reason um at certain positions but I don't think you can argue with Clemson's Talent they have one of the most talented rosters in the country um it's just a fact now there's some depth issues at certain positions that I talked about but if you're talking about sheer Talent uh I wouldn't take very many other rosters out there over Clemson's and I think even those six rosters ahead of us Clemson's got enough talent to compete with any of those guys so it's all about putting it together right it's all about getting the right scheme the coach is getting on the same page and um and putting it all together on the field but from a talent standpoint uh Clemson's about is as a lead as you can get right um we're not going to recruit number one in the country every single year it's just never have never have probably never will maybe uh but it hasn't happened yet and we've had a lot of success on the field and part of it is the way that comes in recruits and how they they divvy out their offers and kind of their philosophy on that so some of that is is that but at the end of the day from my standpoint from where I'm looking it's working out pretty well so far so yeah um and I think those are those are all great points uh because that's I think there's just been I think a lot of uh the fan base has kind of been jaded and um kind of pessimistic about the the ability of these actual uh the players that Clemson has on the roster and I think I mean when you put things into perspective you know the what the average is what 7.8 or the last five seasons I believe that's yeah that's got to be one of the the highest uh five-year average you know under Dabo I mean if because you know that includes the the historic at least for Clemson the historic 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes and well I think there are some guys in that class that have not panned out yet and need to you know step up and we'll have to take bigger roles this year uh I I think that the overall you know quality of the roster is is on paper it's better than it's ever been and so I I think you know you go back to that 2016 National Championship that that team was not overly you know overly littered but four and five star talent I believe you know uh Bud Elliott does this thing called the Blue Chip ratio every year and it basically measures uh how how much of your roster is made up of four and five stars um no program since he's been doing it no program that's been under 50 in the Blue Chip ratio has ever uh won a national championship and but Clemson is the lowest that 2016 Clemson team was the lowest since he's been doing it I believe they were at 52 uh four and five stars I believe Clemson's uh Blue Chip ratio right now is 67. it's high 60s right and so um if you if you look at that from that perspective Clemson is definitely more talented than they have and that that 2015 team was really close uh to actually breaking that Trend because I believe in 2015 you know the year they lost to Obama uh in the national championship they were 40 I think they were 47 48 and so uh that that was the T that team was really close so yeah and I I say all that to say that Clemson you know during you know under Dabo Swinney has been able to develop uh Talent at a um a really really high level and so I think the gripe that fans have about the team and and whether they're talented or not really um I think their frustrations are are misplaced and I think the difference between what Clemson was able to do then and what they're doing now is that development um and yeah that seems like an uh obvious thing but um I I think it's kind of gone I feel like we don't talk about it enough and I think the the biggest thing for Clemson going forward is is being able to coach up the guys that you have and this this staff has seen a lot of turnover the past three years yeah and so I with the guys especially the The Greener guys that are settling into into their new roles um I think the biggest thing for Clemson is is those uh those coaches uh you know the Tyler grishams the Thomas Austin's the West Goodwin um you know settling into their new roles and and becoming and growing as coaches right and I think they have a um they have a I think the message has been sent in this off season that there's an imperative need to yeah to get some you know get better results uh I think that obviously I think the brand is Street or firing especially within the context of everything we've learned since then about how that whole thing went down there's a lot of pressure on this this coaching staff and so you know you know they say pressure makes diamonds all of that that's right that's that's what you have to hope with I don't think that the the problem is Talent um I will say I I don't think the wide receiver room is quite as talented as it's been in years past but I think there's a lot of guys in this room that can play uh that haven't been able to show it you know if you you think of get you know who Adam Randall is as physically impressive as a a wide receiver as I've seen come through Clemson in a long time um and he's obviously he unfortunately had that injury in Spring um and wasn't able to fully work his way back um into full at least at full health um Detroit a guy like Troy stellato I have people forget about Troy stellato he was a high four star yeah man trying to take him on a highly profiled you know battle over uh against Ohio State for yeah um and he's spent you know he spent you know his entire career injured from a guide that you could use in the slot that really that has true NFL potential at slot receiver you know Bo Collins has has been probably Clemson's most steady uh uh receiver you know the the past couple of Seasons absolutely but the injuries is is the problem um you know we we all know how good Antonio Williams is that we love Antonio Williams uh he's he's got a lot of UPS he's he's got a lot of upside he showed a lot of it uh this season and he's only going to get better um but guys like that and then you know you have the young guys that are coming in that they're high on um you know between Ronan Hannah Finn and and uh Noble Johnson and Tyler Brown there's there is room for a really big um season from the Clemson wide receivers it I I think there's a lot of guys in this room that will be able to that that can play especially uh given you know the new offense and everything so I I think having that kind of um that Renewed Energy I think is going to be huge for this entire room and I I think Clemson fans we we really need to see it just for you know for uh the fan base is mental health uh you know the Clemson Brands itself is wide receiver you and all of that yeah but they haven't been that not for the past two seasons right for the past two seasons so for the past two seasons not even close uh there's definitely some room for improvement at the wide receiver position but with that said we got a lot of young guys in there right that can't step up I didn't even mention Cole Turner yeah Cole Turner good Lord look at it look how he came on last year and you got him and Antonio Williams on the field Beau Collins has been consistent when he hasn't been injured right uh he's been our most consistent wide receiver I think anyway uh not that he doesn't go out there and make mistakes and stuff like that but he's got a ton of room for improvement um you know I think he could he could have a big season this this upcoming season right get healthy in the off season uh he could definitely have a big season and you talked about some of the younger guys coming up um so they can actually absolutely step up and and really help this team it's going to be a fresh offense uh there's going to be new passing schemes out there uh we got two horses in the back that are definitely going to loosen up uh those secondaries to help those wide receivers uh get open and help Kate Club Nick in the passing game and stuff like that especially with um how Garrett Riley I imagine is going to run the ball um it's it's going to be a different look on offense and it's been a rough two years for the Clemson offense but what I will say is I wouldn't be too down on them right I think we forget how injured this team was back in 2021 right um and yeah I know that was a rough year look it was hard to watch we were ready to see Tony Elliott go we were happy he took there for the Virginia job right um you know we thought we needed to move on from that and unfortunately Brandon Streeter got you know the job and had some improvement but uh not the Improvement that was necessary right but like you like you previously stated the statement has been made uh the Bell has been sound the warnings have been given uh Dabo Sweeney is looking for results from his coaching staff because what you can't say is Clemson doesn't have talent they've won or as you pointed out with far less Talent Talent is not the problem in Clemson South Carolina Talent has not been the problem for the past two seasons in Clemson so anybody saying that it's Talent it's not it is not Talent coaching has been the problem injuries have been the problem and that's not an excuse everybody deals with injuries right it happens uh but you know I think Dabo Sweeney has uh fired his warning shots and uh we'll we'll see what happens you know and you know it I think it's good that you know a program like Florida State and Miami and some of these others you know in the ACC are getting some hype especially Florida state they're getting a lot of national attention right that's great I like it I welcome it I enjoy it uh because that lights a fire right that's that's a little bit of outside pressure uh that you're not just gonna roll in and be in the ACC Championship every year you're not just going to roll out and you know bludgeon every ACC team like you did in 2018 right uh with a Trevor Lawrence lead team uh so all of that stuff is good and you know just to reiterate like talent talent is not the problem that Clemson it's not we've had we got more Talent right now uh than we had definitely in 2016 right maybe not in 2018 uh depending on how you look at it but you know at this point in time Clemson is at the height of its Talent when it comes to the football field so there's just you know they got to put it together and the coaching staff um and look no further uh the reason that I'm so adamant that we have plenty of Talent on the field and that it has been coaching is look at a couple of the teams ahead of us Jordan Texas A M what have they done lately what's their best season eight and four yeah unless you count what they they won the Orange Bowl in that covered season but yeah they're killing mom doesn't it's funny because because uh Texas A M fans were fed up with Kellen Mullen and he won so many games for them and then as soon as he's gone they just fall apart right yeah Texas Longhorns how's that worked out for them right yeah uh you know LSU outside of that you know that 2019 season um you know and last year they had a they had a pretty good season at will as well but I just say that to reiterate that coaching matters you can have all the talent in the world you have to have good coaches on the field scheme matters coaching matters development matters these guys can come in with all the talent in the world um but if they're not developed properly and they're not put in the right situations on game day it don't matter how talented your roster is you're gonna get your butt kicked um and that's that's been you know part of Clemson's problem the past couple years so we definitely have the talent out there no doubt about it in my mind um we are plenty talented enough to to win another another National Title in in the near future hopefully uh hopefully Club brings one home for us I love that well we'll certainly love that yeah it'd be great