Fall Camp: Day 1 Freshmen Notebook
By: rmacrae@bellsouth.net August 4, 2023

CLEMSON — The Tigers hit the practice field for the first time Friday afternoon as they begin the march towards another championship.

Here are some notes on the freshmen from day one.

  • There is always a difference in the freshmen that enrolled in January when camp rolls around. We noticed most of them looked very comfortable in the drills. They were also helping the new enrollees on a couple of occasions.
  • Dabo Swinney talked about wide receiver Noble Johnson during his press conference and talked about his physical changes since the spring. He certainly passes the “get off the bus” test.
  • We heard great things about defensive lineman TJ Parker during the spring. He looks physically ready to make an impact and we expect him to this season.
  • Wide receiver Tyler Brown was back on the punt return drill along with the usual veterans.
  • Christopher Vizzina was running third-team QB in the drills we saw.
  • Running back Jarvis Green ran out with the third team to start the tempo drill in the third practice period today. That drill gives us the best look at what the current depth chart is. Of course, it is just day one and it will fluctuate a lot during camp.
  • Defensive lineman Peter Woods continues to look like beast mode. He is going to be fun to watch for the next three years.
  • We got our first look at freshmen tight ends Olsen Patt Henry and Markus Dixon. They both arrived this summer so they were learning the ropes.
  • Defensive lineman Stephiylan Green was wearing a green jersey today.
  • We also got our first look at DL A.J. Hoffler. Another Tiger that looks physically ready to contribute.
  • Cornerback Avieon Terrell picked things up very quickly and it didn’t look like his first practice with the Tigers, but it was.  Maybe time watching his brother when he was at Clemson helped prepare him to hit the ground running.
  • Some other observations: Noble Johnson lined up with the third team in tempo. Tyler Brown was second-team tempo. Ronan Hanafin made a great catch on the far side on a Vizzina throw. Also, we saw Woods line up as the up guy on punt protection. And TJ Parker has the same build as Xavier Thomas already.