Wide receiver Dacari Collins leaves Clemson football team
A reserve wide receiver who fell out of Clemson football’s rotation has left the program, the school confirmed Tuesday.
Sophomore receiver Dacari Collins is no longer with the team, a Clemson spokesperson told The State. Collins’ departure was first reported by The Clemson Insider.
Collins, a former four-star recruit from Atlanta, caught 16 passes for 221 yards last season while playing in nine games and starting three as a true freshman.
But Collins struggled to find playing time and targets in Clemson’s first three games of 2022 while ceding time to other receivers in a crowded room. The 6-foot-4 wideout played a season-low 12 of a possible 74 snaps in Clemson’s Week 3 win over Louisiana Tech.
Across three games, Collins had one catch for eight yards against Furman while playing on just 63, or 29.8%, of the Tigers’ 211 offensive snaps to date. He’d been listed as the backup at one of Clemson’s two outside receiver spots behind senior Joseph Ngata.
Clemson last week added Adam Randall as a co-backup with Collins at that position after the true freshman was cleared to play after a spring ACL tear.
Randall and Collins were listed as co-backups behind Ngata on this week’s depth chart, too, with sophomore Beaux Collins and junior EJ Williams listed as co-starters at the other outside receiver spot and Brannon Spector listed as the starting slot receiver and Antonio Williams as his backup.
Due to NCAA rule changes approved this summer, Collins can announce his intent to transfer and leave the team but can’t officially enter the portal until 45 days after the College Football Playoff field is announced.
Collins is the second Clemson player and first on the two-deep depth chart to leave the team. He joins reserve linebacker and former four-star 2020 recruit Sergio Allen, who announced his intent to transfer last week.
Clemson (3-0, 1-0 ACC) is ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25 this week and plays at No. 21 Wake Forest (3-0, 0-0 ACC) on Saturday at noon (ABC).
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 3:05 PM.
