The first two years of DJ Uiagalelei’s Clemson career have been a tale of two different quarterbacks.
After bursting onto the scene as a true freshman in 2020, when Uiagalelei threw for 781 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in two starts against Boston College and Notre Dame, the former five-star prospect struggled in his first full season as the starter in 2021 while completing only 55.6 percent of his passes with more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (nine).
So, which version of Uiagalelei will we see in 2022?
ESPN/ACC Network analyst EJ Manuel, the former Florida State and NFL quarterback, opined during a recent episode of ESPN’s College Football Live that Uiagalelei will return to 2020 form – thanks in part to the fact that his quarterbacks coach, Brandon Streeter, is now the Tigers’ offensive coordinator as well.
“We’re going to see the 2020 quarterback come back in DJ Uiagalelei,” Manuel said. “Look, it’s not easy to take over from the footsteps of Trevor Lawrence. Of course, when you play at Clemson, that’s the expectation. We know the standard of what they expect to be, but I really feel like the confidence with DJ is going to grow — one, because his new offensive coordinator is his old quarterback coach. And as a quarterback myself, I know how that continuity and that conversation, that level of comfort when you have that guy who’s been in the room with you since day one is now going to be calling those plays.
“And look, it doesn’t help that a lot of his guys were hurt. His offensive line was not continuous, he had a bunch of guys out with a couple of injuries. So, as long as the players around him show up, DJ’s going to have a great season.”
ESPN college football analyst David Pollack is not quite as confident as Manuel when it comes to Uiagalelei.
Pollack said on the same College Football Live episode that he’s “interested to see how short the leash is with DJ” this season, with touted true freshman Cade Klubnik waiting in the wings in the Tigers’ quarterback room.
“I think you’re a little bit more confident than me, EJ,” Pollack said. “I think DJ, you can see the talent, man. The dude can throw it through a car wash and not get it wet. He’s big, he’s strong. But I think with his reads, Brandon Streeter’s going to have a tall task on his hands because I don’t know that they’re going to be that much better up front where you’re going to consistently run the football. But I think when they ran him more throughout the season last year, he became better, and I think he’s a better quarterback because he has that ability. But I think he’s going to get pushed, I think he’s going to get challenged.”
Pollack went on to bring up the quarterback situation at Clemson in 2018, when Kelly Bryant began that season as the starter before being replaced by Trevor Lawrence after four games. Lawrence, of course, went on to become the first true freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national title since 1985.
“A couple years ago, remember, it wasn’t that long ago when Dabo Swinney was making hard decisions about Kelly Bryant and Trevor Lawrence and that decision to make the switch, and then end up winning a national championship because of it,” Pollack said. “So, I’ll be interested to see how short the leash is with D.J. I think he’s got a lot of promise, but he’s definitely got to get better with his eyes, trust his line more, and I think he’ll have to run the football a lot.”
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