A few thoughts from the Orange & White Scrimmage that took place at Clemson on Saturday…

We probably expected too much from the quarterback position. The main reason for this is the high-caliber defense Clemson put on the field in both colored jerseys. Both teams of Tigers were tough to block, tackled well in space, and shut down apparently open windows in the passing game. With so many super athletes roaming around, there was no margin for error for any of the four quarterbacks that saw significant time in the game.

Still, Kelly Bryant looked like the best quarterback on the field. His poor accuracy should have been expected. After all, it’s not as if Bryant was going to morph into Deshaun Watson overnight, and he was dealing with an injury that affected his ability to throw the football. However, Bryant’s ability to slip tacklers and escape danger in an ever-crumbling pocket—again, credit to the defense instead of blame to the offense for that—stood out.

Going live with the quarterbacks was a good move that paid dividends. Bryant’s ability to separate from the other two contending signal-callers was made possible by this development. It was important to see how Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson handled live action on a big stage, and both players experienced highs and lows throughout the game. Injuries are always a risk, but the only one we saw was the torn tendon in Bryant’s pinkie that appeared to be a non-contact injury. He played through that pain, further endearing himself to Swinney and the staff.

Johnson didn’t have many highlights, but he did throw the prettiest deep ball. On what looked like a check by the freshman quarterback, he hit Deondre Overton for a 24-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline. It was mostly a struggle downfield for the Tiger QBs on Saturday, but each passer flashed ability at least once or twice.

The skill position star of the game was Ray-Ray McCloud. The 2017 football season will hinge on players making plays in space when put in the right positions. McCloud’s strength is sideline-to-sideline, and the Tigers let him explore the width of the field on Saturday. He also had an impressive kickoff return later in the game. Also a major factor: Hunter Renfrow…but who’s surprised about that anymore?

It’s time to come up with a moniker for Clemson’s two-headed running back monster. I’m going with “Feasler”, only because “Fulster” doesn’t have a great ring to it. C.J. Fuller was the best tailback on the field. I don’t see many limitations in his game. Meanwhile, Tavien Feaster looked more comfortable in the backfield and on special teams than he did all of last season.

One competition that doesn’t seem particularly close right now is punter. Will Spiers was impressive in the battle to be Andy Teasdall’s backup last August, and it appears nothing has changed. Spiers averaged almost 40 yards per punt, including a 59-yarder that was far and away the best of the day. Spiers looks to have a stranglehold on the punting gig as spring practice closes.

Basically the whole defense was fantastic. I could list off some names, but there’s no way to do justice to all of the standout performances. Interceptions, tackles for loss, coverage plays, sound tackling, penetration up the middle—you name it, the defense did it well for most of Saturday’s game. None of this is surprising, of course, since many analysts expect Clemson to have one of its best defenses ever next season. It does make it tough, however, to gauge how well the offense is doing when the other side of the ball is so dominant.

One concern: the exchange. One of the things I didn’t want to see in the spring game was an issue with snapping the ball. Avoiding those altogether seems unlikely to happen given the Tigers are replacing both center and quarterback, but it was a problem at times throughout the game—including the very first snap. That has to get fixed before the end of preseason camp.

—Photo Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports