How do you rank the 25 most important players on a squad’s roster?
It is not easy. However, I rank them based on their past performance, experience and who is behind them on the depth chart, as well as their level of talent.
Here is my ranking of the 25 most important players on Clemson’s 2020 football roster. Here is No. 8 on the list.
No. 8: Amari Rodgers
Class: Senior
Position: Wide receiver
Height: 5-10
Weight: 210
Bio: Rodgers was Honorable mention All-ACC at both wide receiver and as an all-purpose player last year. He caught 30 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing twice for 50 yards and a touchdown. He played in 14 games, while starting 10. He also had 18 punt returns for 151 yards (8.4 avg.). After he tore his ACL in the spring of 2019, he returned to action 166 days later in the second week of the season vs. No. 12 Texas A&M, catching two passes for six yards. His best game of the year came a week later when caught four passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns at Syracuse. Rodgers enters his senior year with 104 receptions in the 43 games he has played in, including 25 as a starter. He has 1,124 yards and eight touchdown catches in his Clemson career. He also has 465 yards and one touchdown on 59 punt returns.
Why No. 8: In his fourth year, including the last two years as a starter, Rodgers is Clemson’s most experienced wide receiver. Though he will likely play primarily in the slot, the Knoxville, Tenn., native also has experience as a field-side wide receiver. With Justyn Ross out for the season, look for Rodgers to help at the field position. He is well respected in the locker room, especially with the way he handled his knee injury last summer. Rodgers’ teammates saw how determined he was to get back on the field and how he was ready to go prior to the season, less than six months after he had surgery to repair his ACL. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Rodgers was “all gas” in the Tigers’ nine spring practices this year. The Knoxville, Tenn., native was even playing without a brace on the formerly injured right knee.
They said it: “I feel much freer. I feel a lot faster, more explosive, because I feel like the brace was extra weight. So, now I just feel lighter and I can play more free and I can play fast on every single rep, so it’s definitely an advantage.” –Amari Rodgers
25 most important Clemson Tigers of 2020:
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