When Dabo Swinney was asked if any of his young players stood out to him the first couple of days in full pads, Clemson’s head coach chuckled.

“Dexter (Lawrence)! He stands out. He stands out big time,” Swinney said. “I’m excited about him.”

There is a lot of be excited about “Big Dex” as Swinney calls him. At 6-foot-5, 343 pounds, he is perhaps the biggest freshman in the country, but the defensive tackle just isn’t big. He is in shape. He is athletic. He is more than just a big body that can take up space. He can also make plays as he proved in the spring when he jumped up an intercepted a Deshaun Watson pass and rumbled 30 something yards down the sideline.

But Lawrence isn’t the only true freshman that is making noise in Clemson’s preseason camp. Of course, linebackers Tre Lamar and Shaq Smith are doing their thing, like Lawrence, but its guys who arrived at Clemson in mid-June that have been very impressive to this point.

Cornerback Trayvon Mullen is pushing sophomore Mark Fields for the other starting spot at cornerback, while K’Von Wallace has impressed Swinney and defensive coordinator Brent Venables as well, as he has been helping out at corner and safety.

Then of course there is running back Tavien Feaster on offense. He rumbled off a 50-yard touchdown run this past Saturday.

“I think we have some good young kids on this team that have bright futures,” Swinney said. “I’m not disappointed with any of those freshmen to be honest with you. I really think, sometimes you get a class in here and you think, ‘Maybe? We will see if they will put the work in.’ But this class, top to bottom, we hit on every one of them. I think all these guys are going to be good players.”

Swinney said one player that jumped out at him on Monday was redshirt freshman Amir Trapp, the son of for Clemson great and NFL cornerback James Trapp.

“I will tell you, he probably has as good of feet as anybody in our secondary, and technique” Swinney said. “He had a good day. He is a young guy that is still developing physically, but he is one of those guys, when it is all said and done, is going to be a really good player.”

Swinney said his linebackers are a solid group from top to bottom and they have a bunch of guys who can play. He said they are ready to go play for them.

“The improvement of JD (Davis), Kendall (Joseph), Judah (Davis) and Tre Lamar is off the charts,” Swinney said. “The improvement those guys have made, I’m proud of them. Shaq (Smith) is making some strides, Chad Smith the same thing, it is just a really good group.”

And it is a group Swinney feels will get better with more practice and experience.