With just one game left in Clemson’s 2022 season, a former Tiger is fascinated to see what approach Dabo Swinney takes with a certain position on his roster in the future.

Some outside of the program have understandably bemoaned the lack of production from Clemson’s passing game of late. The Tigers plummeted to 103rd nationally in passing offense last season and are still ranked in the bottom half of the FBS in that category this season (74th) heading into their Orange Bowl matchup with Tennessee at the end of the month.

Some of it has been the inconsistent play of quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who has entered the transfer portal after spending the last two seasons as Clemson’s starter. But an equally significant reason has been the dropoff in consistency and explosiveness at receiver since former co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach Jeff Scott left to take the head coach job at South Florida two years ago.

Swinney promoted former Clemson receiver Tyler Grisham to coach the position following Scott’s departure, but a program that’s been dubbed by some as WRU based on its recent run of big-play wideouts – Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams, Tee Higgins, Hunter Renfrow and Justyn Ross, to name a few – hasn’t matched that billing the last couple of seasons. Clemson didn’t have a 100-yard receiver in a game this season until a true freshman, Cole Turner, accomplished the feat in the ACC championship game last week.

Eric Mac Lain, a former Clemson offensive lineman who still follows the program closely as an ACC Network analyst, said it’s a perplexing situation.

“(A lot of) these are Jeff’s guys. These are guys that he recruited,” Mac Lain said leading up to the ACC title game. “So is it a coaching thing? Is it just a player thing? Is it that our quarterback can’t get me the ball if I’m the third read so I’m not going to run this route as hard? It’s a fascinating problem that you look at this offseason.”

Clemson’s leading receiver is another true freshman, Antonio Williams, who’s caught 53 passes but is averaging just 10.6 yards per reception, the lowest among receivers who’ve caught at least 15 passes this season. Beaux Collins was emerging as Uiagalelei’s go-to target early with five touchdown catches in the first six games, but the sophomore’s production dipped in the second half of the season. Collins is now done for the season after separating his shoulder early last month.

Joseph Ngata, the Tigers’ senior outside receiver, is averaging 13.4 yards per catch but has just 33 receptions and two touchdowns on the season. Meanwhile, E.J. Williams and Dacari Collins, a pair of former top-100 recruits, are already in the transfer portal after making little impact in the first 13 games.

Brannon Spector is in his first season back after missing all of last season because of respiratory issues while Adam Randall is another freshman that saw his game reps gradually increase once he came back from his ACL injury early in the season. But Mac Lain wondered aloud if the time has come for Clemson to look outside the program for more proven difference-makers at the position.

“Is this now the time where Clemson says we have to go to the transfer portal?” Mac Lain said. “We have to go and get a guy because we can’t supplement the dropoff that we’ve experienced so far? I think it’s going to be a very interesting offseason for the Tigers.”

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