Bold Predictions for Clemson Tigers in 2021

From Will Shipley to Bryan Bresee to Myles Murphy and more, here are five bold predictions for the No. 3 Clemson Tigers in the 2021 season.

Season predictions can be quite repetitive when it comes to Clemson.

With team that's won six consecutive ACC titles and made the same number of trips to the College Football Playoff, there simply aren't a ton of various outcomes to this season.  

Nobody with any sense is going to look at the No. 3 Tigers' schedule/talent and think they're going 6-6 in 2021. Projecting another conference title isn't pushing the envelope, either. 

So to make bold predictions when it comes to Dabo Swinney's squad, you have to get creative and lean more on the individual side, so here are five things that could happen in 2021 that might surprise a few folks:

1. Will Shipley will start and finish the season as Clemson's No. 1 running back: Between Lyn-J Dixon, Kobe Pace and the freshman from North Carolina have been battling it out in the preseason, and a backfield starter hasn't been named for next Saturday's season opener against No. 5 Georgia. But it doesn't matter who gets the first carry. It matters who gets the most snaps and makes the biggest impact. With the way the coaches and players have raved about the versatile, mature Shipley, don't be surprised if he takes that crown and runs with it. 

Shipley, a highly-touted back who came to Clemson in the spring, is ahead of where former star rusher Travis Etienne was when he got to Tiger Town. And while Swinney is known for going with veterans when it's a close position battle, he said Thursday night he didn't care who runs out there first. Shipley is no typical rookie. He's a complete back who can be the leader in the backfield.  

2. Bryan Bresee will be considered the best player in college football by the end of the year: Clemson's defensive front is going to gain a ton of popularity throughout the fall, but the young man who's been dominating the line of scrimmage all preseason is Bresee. He's got the speed of an end with the power of a tackle, and he's disrupted practices to the degree that offensive coordinator Tony Elliott laughed when asked how good Bresee has been. Words like "nightmare" and "monster" have been used to describe him, and now that one of the best recruits in the class of 2020 knows what he's doing, a huge season awaits. 

Bresee ran round like a chicken with his head cut off last year and still ended up with four sacks and 6.5 tackles for a loss. This year, he's more fundamentally sound. At some point this year, some national pundit somewhere will ask if he's the best player in college football. And the answer might be easier than you think right now.

3. Myles Murphy will flirt with Clemson's single-season sack record: There's a chance nobody ever surpasses Keith Adams' 1999 record of 16.5 sacks in a season, but Murphy is the latest candidate to try. No Tiger has had more than 13 since Vic Beasley in 2013, but with all the attention Bresee, Tyler Davis and Xavier Thomas are going to get on this stellar front, offenses might forget about the sophomore sensation on the outside. 

Murphy could easily turn four from last year into double-digit sacks with opportunity and skill. Add in the knowledge he's obtained from his freshman season, and Murphy could put it all together in 2021 and have the NFL salivating over him until the 2023 NFL Draft. There's a Gaines Adams element to his game. Murphy is the real deal and will at least have you wondering if he can break the longtime record in the second half of the season. 

4. Frank Ladson Jr. will lead the Clemson receivers in production: This is a tricky proposition. There are several breakout candidates in a deep pass-catching room, so anybody could end up being great. Or they could all share the wealth from quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and nobody outside of Justyn Ross be "the guy." But Ladson isn't a bad one to bet on. Two months ago, Joseph Ngata was an easy player to identify as being a highly productive Tiger, but a hamstring issue has limited his practice time. 

And factor in this: Uiagalelei has a cannon arm, so Clemson might throw more deep balls this season than Trevor Lawrence threw a year ago. Ladson is one of the fastest players on the team, and before he was injured in 2020, he was one of the top field-stretchers. If he reclaims that role, double-digit touchdowns and the most big plays on the team could go to Ladson. 

5. This offensive line will make everyone forget about last year's struggles: This unit simply had a bad year in 2020. The running game never got going, largely because the front couldn't get a push. But it's a new year, and the returning players took last year personally. Etienne was a star who tried to make something happen no matter the blocking, but this running back group needs the offensive line to open up better holes and take pressure off of Uiagaeleli. 

The thing is, they're much more capable this season. COVID-19 played a factor in their struggles last season, and there simply weren't enough experienced and developed backups to give the starting unit breaks. Several players played hurt up front, and it just wasn't a cohesive unit. This year, there is a much clearer two-deep, and left tackle Jordan McFadden is one of the best in the nation. If the center position gets settled early, the Clemson offensive line will get back on track and pave the way for a big scoring season. 

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