This week, a national outlet honored who it sees as the best players for the upcoming season.

Athlon Sports released its 2023 College Football Preseason All-America Team, with the selections primarily based on how Athlon believes players will perform this season.

Five Clemson standouts were named to the 2023 Athlon Sports’ All-America Team, including linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., running back Will Shipley, defensive tackle Tyler Davis, linebacker Barrett Carter and safety Andrew Mukuba.

Trotter made the first-team defense, while Shipley made the second-team offense as the all-purpose selection. Davis and Carter are both recognized on the second-team defense, and Mukuba is a fourth-team defense honoree.

Trotter earned second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press as a sophomore in 2022, when he led team in tackles (92) and tackles for loss (13.5), tied for the team lead in sacks (6.5) and added six pass breakups, a forced fumble and an interception (returned 35 yards for a touchdown) over 14 games (all starts).

As a sophomore in 2022, Shipley was the lone player in the nation to post at least 1,150 rushing yards, at least 200 receiving yards and at least 300 kickoff return yards this past season. He also became the first player in ACC history to earn first-team all-conference honors at three different positions, collecting first-team honors in the running back, all-purpose and specialist categories.

A second-team All-American (FWAA and Phil Steele), Bednarik Award semifinalist and first-team All-ACC selection in his fourth season at Clemson in 2022, Davis started 11 of the 12 games in which he appeared, finishing credited with 27 tackles (9.5 for loss), 5.5 sacks, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery in 495 snaps. He finished second on the team with 15 quarterback pressures, as credited by the team’s coaching staff.

Carter, meanwhile, was a fourth-team All-America honoree from Phil Steele as a sophomore last season. He tied for third on the team with 77 tackles (10.5 for loss) as credited by the coaching staff, to go with 5.5 sacks, eight pass breakups, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in a unit-high 832 snaps over 13 games (all starts).

After earning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Years honors in 2021, Mukuba tallied 50 tackles (0.5 for loss), four pass breakups and an interception in 580 defensive snaps over 12 games (11 starts) as a sophomore in 2022.

Xavier Thomas is back to win another championship.  Dear Old Clemson has added signed posters from Thomas to our online store.  For this weekend only they are on sale at an introductory price of only $30.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 

Dear Old Clemson is doing NIL the ‘Clemson way’, but we need your help to make sure we build a sustainable, repeatable model that will help keep Clemson competitive with the other top programs around the nation.

Dabo Swinney: “We need your assistance more than ever to provide meaningful NIL opportunities. Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives allow student-athletes to utilize their voice and platform to maximize their NIL opportunities and strengthen their impact in the community.”

Graham Neff:
“Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives need your support to help provide meaningful NIL opportunities for our student athletes. We are doing things the right way, the Clemson way with integrity as a non-negotiable and we fully support the mission of these groups.”

Join the Tiger Club or Lady Tiger Club to help these great student-athletes and help the Tigers compete at the highest level!