Depth Chart for Clemson

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We have 9 seniors on the entire team (including a backup holder). If players would stop leaving early (especially those that shouldn't), we could actually build something here. We have a ton of young talent at a number of skill positions. We badly need a sure fire replacement for King and would be a force. Let's pass around the cap to get King to stay.
 
Sure is odd they're talking about starting JC over Zion. Thought Zion has been great lately.
John Campbell had an 80.3 & 83.1 PFF grade vs UAB & Louisville.

He didn't play vs FSU because he was held out due to injury, everyone just assumed he got benched or something because people are a little thirsty to wanna crown Zion because he was criticized for his play last year, which obviously wasn't his fault because he wasn't ready & was put in a bad position.

But Justice made Campbell the starting LT for a reason.
 
****. Pope still at PR? He scares me to death. I hope he takes one to the house and makes me eat crow.
Pope just needs to make better decisions when fielding punts. The fumble against FSU occurred because Pope was trying to save field position by not allowing the ball to hit the ground. He was too far away to make the play and should have just let it hit the ground. I just want him to fair catch the ball unless it's a low punt directed towards him where he can make a play.
 
John Campbell had an 80.3 & 83.1 PFF grade vs UAB & Louisville.

He didn't play vs FSU because he was held out due to injury, everyone just assumed he got benched or something because people are a little thirsty to wanna crown Zion because he was criticized for his play last year, which obviously wasn't his fault because he wasn't ready & was put in a bad position.

But Justice made Campbell the starting LT for a reason.

I knew he was injured just thought they'd give Zion a shot at starting considering he'd be 2 weeks from playing and JC 3 weeks from starting.
 
Speaking of JT4.. we could have really used him & Bandy this year. GR15 too. Don't understand these decisions.
JT4 would've been an explosive weapon in Lashlee's system, but he just wanted to leave because he was tired of always being labeled as the bad guy & was just ready to go.

Bandy left because he was dealing with some difficult financial issues with his family, it was a dumb move for the long run, but he had people tugging on him from multiple directions, he chose the quickest decision possible & wasn't really allowed to weigh his options & make the best choice possible. He basically got pushed into it by outside factors.

Rousseau's Mom is a nurse at a hospital & was dealing with Covid-19 on the front lines, he's pretty much widely regarded as a guaranteed 1st round pick, which is millions of dollars in guaranteed money, under no circumstances were his parents going to let him risk that to play another season especially after he had already missed his TF season with an injury in the first game of the season vs LSU in 2018. I wish he would've stayed & just played in this Clemson game only & then opt-out the rest of the season, but there's just too much money on the line for him to risk it.

I get the old school mentality most fans have & of course we always want the players to play, but at the end of day, these kids are independent contractors & have to always look out for themselves.

I agree that JT & Bandy made shortsighted decisions & should've came back, but once a player decides they want quick money & they're out, you really don't want them on the team because they'll half *** it every step of the way & will have one foot out the door the entire season giving minimal effort. Jon Garvin last year was the exact example of this, he played at 40-60% the whole year because he was just eyeing the NFL, he had no intentions on giving it his all & was just going through the motions in every game.

That is a backward way of doing it I know, because as a player the better effort you give, the better you'll play, the higher draft grade you'll get which will ultimately earn you more money, but unfortunately kids in today's era simply don't think like that.
 
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Against Clemson, you have to have your best players on the field, especially at OT.

What's odd to me isn't that they're starting Campbell. It's that we're actually so impressed by Zion's play we think he's ready to start against Clemson. What a turnaround for both those guys versus last year. Thank you Coach Justice, Coach Lashlee and D King! And thank you ZIon and John for pushing through the tough times to take that next big step.
 
You can't replace Pope unless you have a better alternative. Restrepo isn't ready. We don't have a Berrios or a KJ Osborn or a Jeff Tuner. So we go with the guy we trust the most. It's not ideal.

But then again, these are the games when big boys strap on their jocks and grow up, or they show they're not ready and get moved aside. We just may see the 5-star Mark Pope we always believed he could be, that guy who tore it up in 7x7s and made defenders look silly. I am a huge believer in South Miami talent. I think he will impress.
 
Man I really wish some of our young guys would take the next step at LB, e.g. Brooks and Huff. Jennings and McCloud just aren't good enough and Steed is just too slow to see any meaningful snaps.
 
Too bad there's no "Or" for Bradley Jennings and Sam Brooks.

I honestly hope we have a good portion of the snap count where both Gil and Keontra are out there at the same time, and we move McCloud over middle or pull him for Brooks. I know we need to stop Etienne on the run. But I'm just as worried about him on the screens and RPO dump passes, along with Daniels and Galloway on crossing routes and underneath stuff.
 
We have 9 seniors on the entire team (including a backup holder). If players would stop leaving early (especially those that shouldn't), we could actually build something here. We have a ton of young talent at a number of skill positions. We badly need a sure fire replacement for King and would be a force. Let's pass around the cap to get King to stay.

of course, but good F*cking luck with trying to fix that. let me know how it works out.

our best player on defense (GR15), decided to sit at home this season, to protect his draft position. you know, just in case he got the sniffles.

their best player on offense (TL), will be the first pick in the draft, and he decided to play. because he wanted to support his teammates and his university. you do the math on why they're 3 TD's better than we are.
 
Is Pope that explosive to offset the risk of fumbling on PR? I could see for JT4 but this is ridiculous.

That's how I feel. Fumbles aside, I haven't seen anything that suggests he is a strong punt returner. It's hard to believe we dont have someone else on the team that can do as well and be less of a risk to fumble. Maybe the coaches see something in practice that we don't.
 
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JT4 would've been an explosive weapon in Lashlee's system, but he just wanted to leave because he was tired of always being labeled as the bad guy & was just ready to go.

Bandy left because he was dealing with some difficult financial issues with his family, it was a dumb move for the long run, but he had people tugging on him from multiple directions, he chose the quickest decision possible & wasn't really allowed to weigh his options & make the best choice possible. He basically got pushed into it by outside factors.

Rousseau's Mom is a nurse at a hospital & was dealing with Covid-19 on the front lines, he's pretty much widely regarded as a guaranteed 1st round pick, which is millions of dollars in guaranteed money, under no circumstances were his parents going to let him risk that to play another season especially after he had already missed his TF season with an injury in the first game of the season vs LSU in 2018. I wish he would've stayed & just played in this Clemson game only & then opt-out the rest of the season, but there's just too much money on the line for him to risk it.

I get the old school mentality most fans have & of course we always want the players to play, but at the end of day, these kids are independent contractors & have to always look out for themselves.

I agree that JT & Bandy made shortsighted decisions & should've came back, but once a player decides they want quick money & they're out, you really don't want them on the team because they'll half *** it every step of the way & will have one foot out the door the entire season giving minimal effort. Jon Garvin last year was the exact example of this, he played at 40-60% the whole year because he was just eyeing the NFL, he had no intentions on giving it his all & was just going through the motions in every game.

That is a backward way of doing it I know, because as a player the better effort you give, the better you'll play, the higher draft grade you'll get which will ultimately earn you more money
, but unfortunately kids in today's era simply don't think like that.

words or wisdom right here.

but let me add this, LCE:

1) JT4 was labeled the "bad guy," but if he wanted to know a big reason why, the nearest mirror could have lent a few clues.

2) Bandy's situation is why there needs to be some mechanism to protect these kids from making decisions that are not in their best interest, but instead are being made to further the interests of those with forked agendas. sure, i get it. we can always say that a coach/team is biased in wanting a kid to stay, but the bi-product of that bias? more maturity, an education, higher draft status, and better long term prospects. if that's the result of some coach's "agenda," i'll take it every day for the kid compared to the result of the agenda that forced the kid's bad hand: no degree, no NFL, no job, no health insurance, no support network, no money.

3) Lots of kids who are potentially 1st round draft picks return to school. then again, some don't. it's not automatic one way or the other, but If GR-15 and his family were principally worried about injury taking his career, there is insurance for that. it's a rider on a disability policy. and it can pay multiple 7 figures based on the underwriting of the player's insurable interest. so, in that case, i have a difficult time accepting the GR-15 type rationale. it's not a reason. it's an excuse.

then again, what the **** do i know.
 
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John Campbell had an 80.3 & 83.1 PFF grade vs UAB & Louisville.

He didn't play vs FSU because he was held out due to injury, everyone just assumed he got benched or something because people are a little thirsty to wanna crown Zion because he was criticized for his play last year, which obviously wasn't his fault because he wasn't ready & was put in a bad position.

But Justice made Campbell the starting LT for a reason.
The thought of having an entrenched redshirt sophomore as the starting left tackle makes me so happy. We could have 2 years more of the same starter there. Maybe 3
 
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