Freshmen drawing rave reviews from Clemson coaches, players

For the first time as Clemson head coach, Dabo Swinney opened up the first five practices of fall camp to the media.

The main reason? He has 40 redshirt/true freshmen, and with the program’s policy that those youngsters can’t talk to reporters until they’ve played a game, Swinney decided to give the media a look at so many fresh faces.

And through the early portion of camp, everyone who’s seen the young Tigers work out, including coaches and players, have been impressed by many of them, especially the ones who didn’t enroll early and go through spring drills.

“Exactly what we thought they were,” Swinney said. “Just natural football players, but they’ve got a lot to learn. Those guys aren’t trustworthy after two days. There’s a whole lot that goes into it, but no question, we hit on them as far as what we expect and hope them to be.”

On offense, the early young standouts have been a pair of receivers in Deon Cain and Ray Ray McCloud, two of the most heralded playmakers in the 2015 recruiting class.

Cain – the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Tampa, Fla., native and USA Today second-team high school All-American who was a big part of the offense in Wednesday’s practice and made several stellar catches – was the first player Swinney was asked about after that workout.

“He’s done fine. (The freshmen) all looked good,” Swinney said. “Trevion (Thompson) has probably looked the best out of anybody out there and nobody’s asked me about him. The first guy is Deon. That’s the problem with recruiting right there. (Cain’s) certainly pretty easy to see with his skill set.”

Thompson, a 6-2, 195-pound redshirt freshman receiver, already did a lot to impress co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach Jeff Scott in the spring, but now he’s carrying that over to camp and playing at a quicker pace than when he first arrived on campus last year.

“He’s gotten faster, stronger, more confident,” Scott said. “He’s made a bunch of plays (in practice).”

Scott said the coaches knew the kind of athlete they were getting with McCloud (5-10, 175), who had several short-pass plays called for him Wednesday, when they recruited him, but Scott’s been more pleased with McCloud’s football knowledge.

In fact, Scott said that’s been the most surprising theme with all the newcomers he’s working with in camp.

“Usually that’s the biggest thing for the young guys, knowing what to do, where to line up, the route, the changes,” Scott said. “But really, all those young guys have done a good job, and I think it says a lot about our older guys spending time with them this summer. The younger guys are really sharp guys. That’s something that you don’t really know on your young guys until they get here.”

And there are 15 midyear enrollees who learned a lot in spring practice. Two of those guys expected to see playing time early in the season are starting left tackle Mitch Hyatt and backup right tackle Jake Fruhmorgen. Senior guard Eric Mac Lain said “they’re sophomores now.”

“They’ve had a spring. They’re not freshmen anymore,” Mac Lain said. “Obviously they will be on paper, but those guys have grown up now.”

The defensive line has grown greatly in numbers with the addition of tackle Christian Wilkins and ends Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell to the roster this summer. Senior defensive tackle D.J. Reader said once those guys got through the first busy day of instillation and their heads weren’t spinning, they began to show off their abilities. He wouldn’t spotlight any certain player of that trio because they’re “all playing hard.”

“They compete. That’s what I like most about them,” Reader said. “They’re confident in their abilities, made a few plays. They’re going to be good players.”

Wilkins is the highest rated defensive player to join the team this summer, and while the first two practices weren’t as physical without pads on, Wilkins’ size (6-5, 305) and abilities have already stood out.

“He is just one of the most athletic defensive linemen I’ve seen,” Mac Lain said. “He’s a great combination of (former Clemson defensive tackle) Grady Jarrett’s work ethic and (former end) Josh Watson’s body. The roof is wherever he wants it to be I think, and he’s going to be a really great player for us this year.”

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 9:37 PM with the headline "Freshmen drawing rave reviews from Clemson coaches, players."