CLEMSON – Since the NFL Draft’s inception nearly a century ago, professional teams have selected almost 30 Clemson wide receivers.

Most recently, Antonio Williams broke a four-year drought of professional wideout talent from the Tigers when he was taken at pick No. 71 by the Washington Commanders in the 2026 Draft.

Before leaving Clemson after celebrating his pick with a room full of other Tiger receivers, Williams spent his four college years at showing other members of his position group what it looks like to be a next-level talent.

“(Williams) was a pro in and out, football, off the field,” wide receiver Tyler Brown said this March. “He taught me how to take care of my body and how to be intentional with that as well.”

“I just really appreciate him for that and just being my rear lights,” Brown added. “You know, (Dabo) Swinney always says, ‘Let somebody’s rear lights be your headlights,’ and he was my headlights, and it was really good headlights to follow.”

After losing Williams, a player Swinney called “a day-one performer,” and “very, very smart,” the Tigers return several younger wide receivers along with Brown. And while juniors Bryant Wesco Jr., a former first-team Freshman All-American, and T.J. Moore, another playmaker, dominate preseason headlines, Brown may be the member of the trio with the most to prove.

In his freshman season back in 2023, with Williams hurt, Brown bounded onto the college football scene as a Freshman All-American, reeling in 52 receptions for 532 yards and four touchdowns in nine starts. His momentum slowed as a sophomore, with a foot injury that sidelined him for the majority of the season, and though he was healthy in 2025, he never made it back to the level of prowess he saw as a freshman.

Brown caught 22 passes for 191 yards and ran for a touchdown last year, including three starts in the place of an injured Williams at the start of the season.

“We love (Brown),” Swinney said. “He’s a great player. But he can only rep so many places.”

With Williams officially departed to the NFL, Brown has a chance to step into a permanent role, while guiding one of Clemson’s deepest position groups, especially with three new wideouts joining the squad.

“I’m hungry. I’m still hungry,” Brown said. “I was hungry when I was playing. I just just love football. I’m just ready to get out there and help my teammates as best as I can.”

To take needed steps to return to or surpass his freshman season, Brown said he took extra reps practicing catches every day after spring practice, and prioritized nutrition and training, saying that as an upperclassman, he has more time to pour into his health.

Now, as something of a Williams’ disciple, he has also worked on intentionally pouring into freshmen Gordon Sellars, Connor Salmin, and Naeem Burroughs.

“Just, trying to help them take along these workouts and practices together,” Brown said. “There’s going to be words said out there to kind of discourage you sometimes at practice. You might not do as well one day, but it’s the next practice that you got to go with. So, I’m really just trying to stress that to the younger guys, don’t let the highs get too high and the lows get too low. And just continue to work and get better.

“And whatever you mess up on, we are going to look at film and fix it the next day.”

As an upperclassman in one of the deepest position groups on the team, Brown, along with Wesco and Moore, will need to lead not only other receivers, but the entire team this year, if the Tigers want to improve on last season’s 7-6 finish.