The Clemson football team is pretty well set in most areas as the Tigers prepare to kick-off fall practice next month.
However, there are two position groups, one on each side of the ball, that fans and pundits alike should watch closely as we near the start of a new season. These positions bear keen observation, but for different reasons. One returns very little production from last year, while the other features elite talent but questions surrounding its depth.
These are the two areas that the Clemson football team, and head coach Dabo Swinney, will be keeping a close eye on in the next two months.
Running back
This one is the obvious elephant in the room. Clemson football loses most of its production at the running back position from 2024 because most of that production came from one man. Phil Mafah. Mafah has departed to the NFL after five seasons with the Tigers, and in his place is a young but talented room of players who are all vying for a chance to make an impact.
While Mafah accounted for over 45 percent of Clemson’s rushing yards last season, several young ball carriers return led by Jay Haynes who is coming off a significant knee injury. Haynes rushed for 295 yards and three touchdowns on 43 carries in 2024. Also returning is Keith Adams Jr. and Jarvis Green, a young player who flashed against Texas in last year’s college football play-off with a receiving touchdown.
Veteran wide receiver Adam Randall is converting to running back as well. But perhaps the two biggest names to watch are redshirt freshman Davis Eziomume, a former four-star recruit, and true freshman Gideon Davidson, one of the most heralded prep running back recruits in Dabo Swinney’s tenure at the helm of Clemson football.
Eziomume carried the ball only 10 times a season go, for 62 yards, before redshirting. Davidson, meanwhile, was one of the top recruits in the country and rated as high as the number three running back prospect in the 2025 class. Gideon gave fans a glimpse into his dynamic abilities during a sensational spring game performance, and it is quite possible that Davidson wins the battle to become RB1.
Liberty Christian RB Gideon Davidson scores on a 61 yard run against Jefferson Forest (11/08/24)
While there is no true answer at the moment to where the Clemson football team will garner the bulk of its production out of the backfield, Swinney and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley do have a plethora of options to choose from.
Defensive line
On the other side of the ball, the defensive line bears watching for an entirely different reason. The Tigers have arguably the best starting defensive front in college football, but the question is, who will step up among the players in the two deep rotation when the starters need a break?
The starters along the line, including projected top five NFL draft picks T.J. Parker and Peter Woods, are as good as it gets. Along with them is DeMonte Capehart who returns for a final season, too. But for Clemson football to be successful and uphold their “we too deep” mantra, the Tigers need others to step up as well.
Among those players primed to potentially take the next step in their development are Vic Burley, Stephiylan Green along the defensive front. Also in the mix is former five-star recruit and Florence, SC native Amare Adams who is entering his true freshman season.
Other players to keep an eye on are sophomore defensive ends A.J. Hoffler and Jahiem Lawson.
There are options behind the starters on the defensive line, but it is simply a matter of who will step up and put themselves into position to be a key part of the rotation. For Clemson football and Dabo Swinney, having those options is a luxury that many teams do not have. As Kirk Herbstreit said during a national broadcast of Clemson football in 2017, the Tigers have an embarrassment of riches along the defensive front.
The Clemson Tigers have not played for a national championship since 2019 and have only made the play-offs once in the past four seasons. Many national outlets and individual prognosticators have Clemson football placed squarely in the top five of their preseason polls, and even number one in a few of them. The Tigers’ stock is high right now.
If Dabo Swinney and company get the running back position squared away and defensive line depth in order, then it could be time to buy high on the Clemson Tigers.
