One Clemson QB ‘clearly was the better quarterback this spring,’ Clelin Ferrell says

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence received plenty of hype after a stellar performance in the Tigers spring game this April.

Lawrence led the Orange team to a victory against the White team and Kelly Bryant, completing 11 of 16 passes for 122 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.

Bryant struggled that Saturday, particularly on deep throws, passing for only 35 yards in the loss.

But Tigers defensive end Clelin Ferrell, a leader on the squad, said at the ACC Kickoff event that one quarterback stood out this spring, and it wasn’t Lawrence.

“Maybe he didn’t play as well as Trevor in the spring game and whatnot, but Kelly clearly was the better quarterback as far as the whole spring as a whole,” Ferrell said at The Westin in downtown Charlotte on Thursday afternoon. “Trevor showed some great things in the spring, but it was just a mental jump that he had to make; and he did have some struggles that a lot of people don’t really see.”

There was plenty of outside noise about the quarterback competition following the spring game as fans and media members speculated that Lawrence could give the Tigers a better chance to win in 2018.

But Ferrell believes Bryant, who led Clemson to the playoff last season, still gives the Tigers the best opportunity to win the national title this season.

“I feel like Kelly was definitely still the more ready quarterback after the end of the spring. Definitely,” Ferrell said. “He’s a senior. He has more trust in his teammates. He knows the system. And he showed his skill and his talent through his ability to run. He’s worked really hard … He just looked comfortable. Everything flowed smoothly with him.”

Bryant was one of the first offensive players Ferrell mentioned when asked about the leaders of the squad.

“The whole team is behind him. That’s our guy,” he said. “Unless the coaches say otherwise, Kelly’s our guy.”

Ferrell added that Bryant did not let any of the negative talk bother him this summer. Instead, he went back to work to prepare to lead Clemson to a fourth consecutive ACC title and College Football Playoff berth.

“Better than anybody I really could’ve seen handle it. He handled all of that last year with everybody talking about he’s going to step into the Deshaun (Watson) role and stuff like that … He knows at heart he had a good spring,” Ferrell said. “He’s always in good spirits. That’s just who Kelly is … He understands that playing quarterback here, there’s a lot that comes with it good and bad.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2018 at 4:23 PM.