The Clemson freshman not named Trevor Lawrence who should help on offense in 2018

Braden Galloway didn’t get a ton of reps this spring as he was recovering from an injury that forced him to have a screw inserted into his foot.

But when the freshman was on the field during the latter part of spring practice, he was impressive.

Galloway was overlooked by some when he signed with Clemson for the class of 2018. He was rated as a three-star prospect, No. 860 overall by the 247Sports Composite rankings. Only kicker BT Potter was ranked lower.

But when co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott was asked earlier this summer which freshmen can help the Tigers in 2018, Braden Galloway’s name was the first one Elliott mentioned.

“I think Braden Galloway, even though it was limited towards the end of spring practice, you saw his ability to stretch the field, ability to run, ability to go up and make plays,” Elliott said. “He’s a guy that we’re excited about.”

Galloway was healthy enough to play in the spring game and caught two passes for 10 yards in the contest.

The Seneca native also hauled in a long pass from freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence during the spring game, although it did not count in the stat sheet because Tigers coach Dabo Swinney ruled that Lawrence had already been touched on the play, making the play dead.

Lawrence also connected with Tee Higgins on a deep pass during the spring game, but it also did not count because the quarterbacks were not live.

“Statistically they lose that, but still at the end it’s great to see those guys… I think Braden Galloway finished one and Tee had the other one,” Swinney said after the game. “At the end of the day eyes were on the right thing, we made the right read, just had a little breakdown up front.”

Tight ends coach Danny Pearman agrees with Elliott that Galloway should be able to help the Tigers this season.

“Here’s a kid who has normally been a basketball kid most of his life, played a little bit of high school football, a couple of years of that and then joined us. But I’ve been really, really encouraged and impressed with not only his athleticism but his pickup of the offense,” Pearman said at Swinney’s golf outing earlier this month.

“When you get a kid with his body type, his ability to block will always take some work but he’s a willing kid. He’s a tough kid. And he really got a grasp of what we try to do this spring.”

The key now is for Galloway to stay healthy. If he is able to do so he could be on his way to having a great college career.

“That’s kind of a reoccurring thing across the board now and I don’t know what causes it, but he had that in high school and had it fixed and had to have it redone when he was with us in January,” Pearman said. “It set him back a little bit with us this spring and he was only able to participate the last week there full go, but he’s had no problem with it since.”

This story was originally published July 27, 2018 at 5:59 PM.