An ESPN analyst recently discussed DJ Uiagalelei’s up-and-down career at Clemson, as well as the quarterback’s future, now that he has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

During his Always College Football show, ESPN’s Greg McElroy weighed in on Uiagalelei.

“He’s obviously played a ton of football,” McElroy said. “We know what DJ Uiagalelei looks like when he plays at a really high level. The problem is, he hasn’t played super confident football in each of the last two years. But if you go back three seasons ago to 2020, man, watch him in the two games he started. Look at the command, look at how the ball spins off his hand, look at how poised he was in the pocket. Granted, that was with a better supporting cast than he’s had in the last two years. But man, he was a totally different dude.”

After bursting onto the scene as a true freshman in 2020, when Uiagalelei threw for 781 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in two starts against Boston College and Notre Dame, the former five-star prospect struggled in his first full season as Clemson’s starter in 2021 while completing only 55.6 percent of his passes with more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (nine).

Then, this season, Uiagalelei started off strong with 17 touchdown passes against just two interceptions across Clemson’s first seven games. However, over the last six games, he had only five touchdown passes and was intercepted five times.

“Now, I do think that there were some greater things going on in DJ Uiagalelei’s life that led to him having up and down performances the last two years,” McElroy said. “And if you really look at the start of this season, there were some moments when it’s like man, all right, DJ’s back. He’s back to being the highly regarded prospect that came in as a top-40 player in the country coming out of high school. You thought hey, this guy’s a surefire Heisman contender, he’s going to replace Trevor Lawrence. There will be a little dropoff, but it won’t be significant enough to the point where Clemson will completely fall on their face. Well, DJ Uiagalelei just never was able to put it all together.”

In 13 games this season, Uiagalelei completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 2,521 yards and 22 touchdowns with seven interceptions while also rushing for 545 yards and seven more scores.

The California native entered the season having completed 286-of-491 passes for 3,160 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions over 23 games (15 starts).

McElroy believes a fresh start can help Uiagalelei, a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining.

“I think he needs a fresh start,” McElroy said. “Wherever he ends up, I would actually be surprised if he doesn’t have a nice finish to his career. He’s only a junior, he’s got a couple years of eligibility left. But I look at this guy, man, I think he’s got a chance to be a real difference maker. Now, he’s got to be more accurate with the football. He doesn’t need to lock in on one specific receiver. He’s got to be willing to get his eyes through his progressions a little bit faster, with a more urgency, and the intermediate accuracy has to take a fairly significant step up. Because if those things don’t change, you’re going to continue to get the same results when it comes to evaluating his upside.

“But, for all intents and purposes man, he’s got natural ability. Just got to get him in the right situation, surround him with good pieces around him, and you might find yourself one heck of a starting quarterback here in the next couple years.”

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