Clemson Football’s Strengths, Weaknesses Unveiled in Way Too Early Rankings
March and April are spring football season, and the Clemson Tigers are no exception.
The Tigers are in the middle of spring workouts leading up their annual Orange-White game in April. The game won’t be televised this year, but admission is free for anyone who attends.
But, sight unseen, many college football experts are all-in on Tigers’ chances of being a great team in 2025.
Recently, ESPN published its way-too-early Top 25, along with strengths and weaknesses for each team listed. The Tigers were the highest-ranked ACC team at No. 7.
In the piece, the analyst pointed out the Tigers’ biggest strength, which is pretty obvious — the quarterback.
The return of Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Cade Klubnik had his best season statistically in three years with the Tigers. The offense is also returning much of the talent around Klubnik as they look for a replacement for running back Phil Mafah, who is on his way to the NFL.
Klubnik wowed coaches and fans alike with his dual threat ability, as he threw for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns and six interceptions, while he also rushed for 463 yards and seven touchdowns.
Based on what is coming back on offense, ESPN was willing to make a bold projection for the Tigers’ offense.
“Clemson returns its top three receivers, and it gets Tyler Brown back from injury, so the potential is there for this to be the Tigers’ best offense since Trevor Lawrence’s last season in 2020,” per ESPN’s Andrea Adelson, who broke down the Tigers.
The weakness is, well, it just happens to be who Klubnik will hand the football. A player with Mafah’s experience and reliability is a luxury in any offense. He has his best season in 2024, rushing for 1,115 yards and eight touchdowns while catching 21 passes for 103 yards.
There are plenty of questions. Jay Haynes is going through injury rehab. Freshman Gideon Davidson is getting reps. But Adelson’s concern is that in March there is no way to know how the rotation will fall, hence the position being Clemson’s biggest weakness.
The Clemson Tigers are coming off a 2024 campaign in which it won the ACC championship game and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020.
The Tigers went 10-4 overall and lost to Texas in the first round of the expanded 12-team playoff. Clemson’s biggest offseason addition was defensive coordinator Tom Allen, the respected former Indiana Hoosiers head coach who is joining the program to fix its flagging defense from a season ago.
