It’s no secret that Clemson’s offense needs to be better in 2022 if the Tigers realistically hope to become College Football Playoff contenders again, particularly at the most important position on the field.
While Clemson has added five-star signee Cade Klubnik to the quarterback competition this spring, first-year offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter made it clear last week that the job is still D.J. Uiagalelei’s to lose. The best way to describe Uiagalelei’s first season as the Tigers’ full-time starter is inconsistent as the rising junior completed just 55% of his passes and threw more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (9).
The low completion rate was a result of inaccuracy, particularly on throws of the intermediate-to-deep variety, that plagued Uiagalalei throughout the season, though Streeter said there were factors outside of Uiagalelei’s control that contributed to it.
“It’s obviously glaring when you play the quarterback position and it all goes on the quarterback, but there were definitely plenty of times where maybe a route depth wasn’t right or maybe (the receiver) ran the wrong route or maybe it was a guy right in his face,” Streeter said. “There was way more thrown on D.J. than he deserved, to be honest with you.”
But, for Uiagalelei’s part, improving in that area has been a focus for the quarterback and Streeter, who’s also going on his eighth season coaching the position for the Tigers. Streeter said there’s one primary fundamental area that both have identified as the starting point.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions about just things to improve on starting with the footwork and making full-speed decisions,” Streeter said. “Those are two things that are very, very critical at the quarterback position. Everything starts with that footwork, and the timing comes from your footwork. He’s done a great job on his own of working on his footwork, and we’ve had great communication about what he likes and is more comfortable with.”
Where Uiagalelei needs to perhaps make the most strides is maintaining the mechanics of his footwork when he gets pressured in the pocket. For Uiagalelei, Streeter said, that means being able to stay balanced with his lower half.
“When his feet are set and he can be balanced, he’s as accurate as I’ve seen,” Streeter said. “There’s no question about it. Whenever he gets off balance, he still has the arm talent to make throws, but that percentage goes down on his accuracy. So that’s the big challenge for him is to be able to feel the rush and the timing of getting rid of the ball but also maintain that balance with his footwork and being able to stay in there and not fading away unless he absolutely has to. Those are some things that he has really put on the forefront for his improvement.”
Streeter said he’s continuing to have dialogue with Uiagalelei to further get a better understanding of what he’s comfortable with from a fundamental standpoint. It’s on ongoing process, but so far, so good for Uiagalelei, who’s drawn rave reviews from Streeter and Swinney for some of his performances through Clemson’s first nine spring practices.
“We’ve had great conversations about that, and he’s gotten in the film room a lot more and just really trained hard,” Streeter said. “Just excited about his learning and him being able to respond and challenged in how he’s responded to that.”
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