ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg listed his top 25-college football offenses for the next three seasons, with Clemson falling to a seemingly unreasonable 13th on the list.
While we understand it was a down year for Clemson football as a whole last season… 13th? Here’s a piece of Rittenberg’s reasoning behind this choice.
Via ESPN:
Clemson’s offense enters a pivotal season after taking a step back in 2021 and losing long-time playcaller Tony Elliott, who took the Virginia head-coaching job. New coordinator Brandon Streeter played quarterback at Clemson and coached the Tigers’ QBs throughout the program’s historic run since 2015, but the offense is undoubtedly in a transition period. The first step is figuring out the starting signal-caller, as D.J. Uiagalelei tries to keep his job from challenger Cade Klubnik, ESPN’s No. 2 quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class.
Don’t get me wrong, starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was not good last season. Simple as that. Yet, he’s flashed signs of greatness and will likely have a more complete offensive unit around him this upcoming season.
If he doesn’t work out at the end of the day, ESPN’s No. 2 quarterback Cade Klubnik is looking all the part of a future elite collegiate quarterback. He is an extremely highly touted prospect, and the buzz around his game seems to be for a good reason.
Having two guys like this in your quarterback room, you’d feel like you’re in a good position. Yet, Rittenberg ranked Clemson’s 2022 future QB ranking at 17th. I’ve had a tough time making sense of this, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Rittenberg speaks on other parts of the team, such as coaching changes, the offensive line, and receiving corps. It seems as if he is too low on the Tigers’ future. Lck of faith in the Tigers’ offense is shown blatantly with some of the teams he listed ahead of Clemson.
Some of the teams that were most shockingly put ahead of Clemson for me included No.7 Miami, No.10 Mississippi State, No.11 UCF, and No. 12 NC State. I understand the criteria they’ve put in place for this list. Current roster, recruits, and coaching changes all play a factor, but at the end of the day, I see no realm where some of these schools belong ahead of Clemson as of today.
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