CLEMSON — The Clemson football team was back in action on Monday afternoon for the fourth practice of fall camp on the practice fields behind the Allen Reeves Complex.
The media was allowed a viewing window during the first 4.5 periods, and The Clemson Insider was on hand to pass along some of what we saw.
One thing worth noting is that there were some scouts representing the Buffalo Bills on hand two of them spent a lot of time watching the linebackers go through drills. Junior Sammy Brown is getting a lot of first-round hype ahead of his third season with the program. The Baltimore Ravens, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots were some of the other NFL teams to have scouts in attendance.
Newcomer Observations
– The team was once again in shells, and freshman QB Tait Reynolds continues to impress in the drills. As we have documented consistently over the first few days of camp, Reynolds has the biggest arm of the bunch. He gets it out on time and puts it where it is supposed to be. TCI has more in-depth coverage on the quarterbacks from Monday.
– Speaking of the quarterbacks, while Reynolds has understandably gotten pretty much all of the attention when it comes to the freshmen, just wanted to say that Brock Bradley can spit it. He doesn’t have quite the arm strength of Reynolds, but he looks like a different guy compared to the spring.
– The practice started with some kickoff return work. Transfer running back Chris Johnson was in the rotation. We didn’t get a look at the exact rotation, but Johnson was near the top. His speed would certainly be an asset in the return game.
– During those same return drills, head coach Dabo Swinney could be heard over the loudspeakers telling transfer defensive end London Merritt to get off his blocks. Merritt has been working on special teams multiple times in the opening days of camp. During individual drills, Merritt was working in the second group behind Will Heldt and Jahiem Lawson.
– Fellow transfer defensive end CJ Wesley was further down in the rotation. The fifth-year player is a little undersized when compared to most of the other ends in the room, but he surely has some speed. It will be interesting to see what kind of role he has once the season kicks off.
– Chris Rumph was coaching freshman end JR Hardrick hard. Hardrick just arrived on campus during the summer, so he did not have the benefit of going through spring practice. This is a lot to learn in a short time. At 6-foot-5, 240 pounds, Hardrick is a good-looking prospect and should look much more impressive once he’s had a year in the weight room.
– Transfer defensive tackle Devarrick Woods was on the receiving end of some praise from Nick Eason after a couple of reps in a tackling drill. Woods also just arrived in the summer after being signed from the portal after Hevin Brown-Shuler was ruled out for the year with his cancer diagnosis. Woods is another fifth-year player, and he also looks a tad undersized. He is listed at 6-foot-3, 285 pounds on the official roster. Defensive tackle is where some of the biggest questions lie for this team.
– Transfer defensive back Donovan Starr might very well find himself having a role in the secondary. The sophomore has been working a lot at nickel.
– Freshman corner Marcell Gipson looks physically ready. He did get up hobbling after one of the drills, but quickly shook it off and was right back at it. Freshman corner Shavar Young Jr. also looks the part physically. Mike Reed might have very well hit on both of those guys.
– Freshman safety Polo Anderson is one of the more athletic players on the field. It just jumps off at you. Hard to not see him at least having a role on special teams.
– Freshman linebacker Brayden Reilly looks a little heavier than the 220 pounds Clemson lists him at. With the depth questions at linebacker, if Reilly can soak things up quickly, maybe earns himself some playing time at some point in the season. He moves really fluidly and has that sideline-to-sideline quickness. Watching him in one of the drills on Monday, he also looks to have pretty good hands.
