The Clemson Insider takes a sneak peak at what to expect from the football team’s inside the Atlantic Coast Conference as they begin preparations for spring practice.
Today, TCI takes a look at the Atlantic Division. Can anyone challenge three-time defending ACC Champion Clemson? The Tigers returns 17 players who started at least four games in 2017, 19 if you count the punter and kicker, from a team that went 12-2 last fall and made it to the College Football Playoff for a third straight year.
Atlantic Division
Clemson
Coming off of a 12-2 season and a playoff appearance, Clemson will aim to take over the top spot in the country once again. The Tigers’ fell short last season, but boast excellent talent going into this 2018 season.
At quarterback the Tigers will return Kelly Bryant, whose solid season will give him the first shot at the starting position next season with incoming freshman—the nation’ top recruit—Trevor Lawrence giving some competition. With both leading rushers Travis Etienne and Tavien Feaster returning, the Tigers boast a veteran backfield. With loses in two of the top receivers in Deon Cain and Ray-Ray McCloud, there are a lot of options for replacements in Tee Higgins, Cornell Powell, Deondre Overton, Amari Rodgers and incoming freshman Derion Kendrick to name a few. With the departure of Taylor Hearn and Tyrone Crowder at left and right guard, John Simpson should step in accordingly as will freshman Jackson Carman.
Clemson was able to keep all three of its All-American defensive linemen in Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant. With Dexter Lawrence also in the mix, the Tigers’ statistically hold the best defensive line in the country going into next season. Clemson has to replace three starters on defense in linebacker Dorian O’Daniel, cornerback Ryan Carter and safety Van Smith.
Clemson’s key games will be at Florida State on Oct. 27 and at home on Nov. 24 against South Carolina.
Florida State
Coming off of an uncharacteristically poor year in which they finished 7-6 (3-5 in ACC) after an injury to quarterback Deondre Francois, FSU will look to revamp their team going into next season. As expected, the team is losing a lot of talented players from last year’s roster. There losses are more so on the defensive end rather than the offensive. One of such loses is right tackle Rick Leonard. With the offensive line being one of the weaker points of last season’s team, Brock Rubble will look to step into the starting spot after being listed as backup in several offensive line areas. At tight end they also lost Ryan Izzo to the draft, with Tre McKitty the first candidate to replace. After returning from injury, quarterback Deondre Fracnois is likely to take back over under center but little is known about who will get the start a tailback with Jacques Patrick and Cam Akers returning. The stud duo is likely so share carries as they lead the FSU offense. With all top receivers returning besides junior Auden Tate, the route runners will hop for a better year through the air with the return of Francois.
Defensively, the Seminoles are being left with some major holes. This is mainly shown in their secondary where they are losing three starters, including RS sophomore Derwin James and JR Tarvarus McFadden. With Derwin James leaving, it opens up a spot highly touted high school safety Jaiden Woodley to step in and get some early playing time as well as Asante Samuel Jr. The same goes for cornerback Anthony Lytton, who is ranked the 7th best cornerback in their class. Corner Taylor Lavonta will step in as the leader of the secondary. The next biggest holes to fill are found on the defensive line. Defensive tackle (NG) Derrick Nnadi and defensive end Josh Sweat have also declared for the draft. While Robinson Janarius looks to have the defensive end spot filled going into his sophomore year, Nnadi’s backup Frederick Jones could see some competition from incoming freshman Robert Cooper. Key games for the Seminoles will be opening game against Virginia Tech on Sept. 3rd and home against Clemson Oct. 27th.
Boston College
Coming off of a 7-6 season, Boston College is heading into the 2018 season only losing four starters from last years’ team. The only loss on the offensive side of the ball, is veteran leader left guard Sam Schmal. With his departure, the position is wide open to a competition between back-ups John Phillips and Ryan Conte. The big star returning in the backfield is 1st All-ACC and ACC Rookie of the Year award winning running back AJ Dillion. The star back took the league by storm last season rushing for just under 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns. Both of which more yards and touchdowns then returning freshman quarter back Anthony Brown. Although Brown wasn’t spectacular, he is expected to be the starter with 3-Star incomers Jake Langen and Matt Valecce both eying the job themselves. Tight-end Tommy Sweeney will be the main target for whoever is under center, returning from a 3rd team All-ACC performance. This along with an offensive line returning 2nd team All-ACC tackle Chris Lindstrom.
The biggest loss for Eagles is at defensive end as they lose Harold Landry. His dominance on the edge will be a tough thing to replace, with little known of who will replace his productivity. At the weak side linebacker position BC is losing their leading tackler in Ty Schwab. With his loss, RS Sophomore Davon Jones is expected to take over for Eagles. In the secondary Taj-Amir Torres will be taking over for graduating Isaac Yiadom. Although there are some big loses, BC has returning stars in Lukas Denis who recorded seven interceptions at safety and hybrid defensive lineman/linebacker Zach Allen who totaled 100 tackles last season and 15.5 tackles for loss. Key games for this team will be at Wake Forest Sept. 13 and home against Miami Oct. 26.
Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons are coming off of a solid 8-5 season with leadership on both ends of the ball with quarterback John Wolford and defensive lineman Duke Ejiofor. 2nd team All-ACC quarterback John Wolford is a massive loss for Wake Forest, leaving questions at the quarterback position. When in the game last season, backup Kendall Hinton had a QBR of 156.8, which should give him the nod for first dibs at the vacancy. With a complete offensive line returning three All-ACC players and both starting wide outs, the job will have a security blanket of veterans to play along with. The Demon Deacons also have a major loss at the tight end position as they lose 1st team All-ACC tight end Cam Sergine. His nine touchdowns last season will be tough productivity to replace. Backup tight end Jack Freudenthel only has 3 catches in his career, but is the likely 3-stare recruit Jake Whiteheart being the only tight end coming in next season.
On the defensive side of the ball Wake Forest loses its’ top defensive player in Defensive-end Duke Ejiofor and well as their other starting defensive end Wendell Dunn. Carlos Basham Jr. is expected to take over for Ejiofor and has some big shoes to fill. On the other side of the line junior Chris Calhoun is next in line for the other defensive end position, but both should have some solid competition with 3-star recruits Rondell Bothroyd and Royce Francis both coming in at the strong side defensive end position. The linebacking corp will also see some changes with two open spots emerging in the middle and at the Buck. RS sophomore Justin Strnad should step into the Buck, but the backup middle linebacker Nate Mays should see some competition with two 3-Star inside linebackers coming in their next recruit class. Key games for this team will be in back to back weeks as they take on Syracuse at home Nov. 3 and on a short break away against NC State on Nov. 8.
Louisville
After all the hype received from Louisville’s Lamar Jackson’s Heisman award winning year, last year’s 8-4 record was not the season they were hoping for. Now going into next season they have to find a replacement for the All-American at the quarterback position. Last year’s backup Jawon Pass should get the first shot at the job with dual-threat quarterback Jordan Travis being the only quarterback in their incoming recruiting class. Whoever takes over at the position will be playing under a veteran offensive line with four starters from last season’s team returning. With left tackle Geron Christian declaring for the draft, Foy Linwood is in line to replace the standout lineman. This will give Louisville a near complete group of seniors on the line next season. With the rest of the offense returning, they will have a group of veteran receivers to give aid to whoever the first time starter at quarterback will be.
On the defensive side of the ball there will be a lot of holes needed to be filled. Losing six starters as well as a possible seventh is a tough situation to come back strong from (Jaire Alexander has yet to make a decision on whether to leave for the draft or not). The troubles start at the defensive end positions as they will be losing both starters at the position. Jonathan Greene will be taking over the weak side defensive end position as he proved his worth last season totaling seven sacks. The other side will be the question for the team as backup Tabarious Peterson failed to record a sack last season. At linebacker, Middle linebacker Dorian Ethredige will be back leading the linebacking corp after a successful freshman campaign in which he was second on the team in tackles. The secondary will be seeing at the minimum two new faces as they lose leading tackler safety Chucky Williams and cornerback Trumaine Washington who led the team in interceptions. TreSean Smith may move to the opposite side safety position as he had a standout freshman year. The key matchups for this team next season will be Nov. 3 at Clemson and a big away game against NC State on Nov. 17.
NC State
After a 9-4 season along with a second place finish in the division, NC State is coming off of one of their better years in recent time. This was in large part due to the outstanding play that had on the defensive line led by All-American Bradley Chubb. With that being said, the Wolfpack’s defensive line will be taking major losses next season with all four of the starters on the defensive line graduating or heading to the NFL draft. This giving not only a need to replace a full unit on the line, but a full replacement for the 19 sacks that the group was able to put together. Juniors Eurndraus Bryant and Darian Roseboro are expected to step in and lead that group up front. Freshman Louis Acceus may have some of the biggest shoes to fill as he is set to replace last season’s leading tackler Jerod Fernandez.
The Wolfpack are returning all but two starters on offense, none more important than starting quarterback Ryan Finley. After a huge Junior campaign Finley will look to keep up with the high level of play as shown in previous years. Many believe Finley to be the best quarterback in the ACC going into next season. Finley will have the targets next season as well with two of his three leading receivers returning in Kelvin Harmon and Jacob Meyers. The offensive line protecting him will be all seniors next season other than likely starter at right guard Joshua Fred-Jackson, who is expected to step in at the right guard position. At running back leading rusher and 1st All-ACC player Nyheim Hines is returning for his senior year giving NC State their 1,000 yard rusher back. Key games for this team will be away against Louisville on Nov. 17 and a homecoming run in with Florida State on Nov. 3.
Syracuse
Coach Dino Babers has been productive in his short tenure at Syracuse, even if last years’ measly 4-8 record with an injury riddled Orange doesn’t show it. Going into his third season as head coach of Syracuse, Babers recently stated, “I really believe that the 2018 season is going to be something that we’re going to be talking about here for a long, long time.”
Babers put a lot of expectation on his shoulders with that statement as Syracuse still must deal with divisional power houses such as Clemson and a recovering Florida State team. The team currently has the 52nd ranked in coming recruiting class. Returning to the team will be star quarterback Eric Dungey who led the team in passing and rushing, while missing a total of three game to end the season. Although returning Dungey, Cuse lost its leading receiver and first team All-ACC player Steve Ishmael.
As well as Ishmael, they will be losing second leading receiver and second team All-ACC receiver Ervin Phillips. The loss of Ishmael and Phillips takes away over 2,200 receiving yards and eleven of the twenty touchdowns the team had through the air last season, making them weak in the receiving corp for the upcoming season. 3-star recruits Edward Hendrix and Taj Harris will look into filling those gaps.
Losses on the defensive side of the ball will be prevalent for the Orange as well as they lose the senior linebackers Parris Bennett and Zaire Franklin, who combined for 199 tackles. Returning sophomore Andrew Armstrong will be one of the players stepping into a bigger role next season as the holes in the defense have to be filled. Austin Valdez is a player who may fill into the vacancies as well. One of the strengths the team can look forward to next season is a well-seasoned starting line, on the offensive and defensive end. On the offensive line they will be returning all but one starter (Right Tackle) and they lose no starters on the defensive line. Stable protection for Dungey should result in a better 2018 season. Syracuse’s biggest home game will be against Florida State on Sep. 15 and their biggest away game will be Sep. 29 against Clemson.