Rodgers Has To Be Bigger Factor In Clemson Passing Game

It just so happens that Clemson has a need to work underneath more in 2020 and a guy who can do that in receiver Amari Rodgers, a key player if this passing game wants to continue to be a force behind quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Criticizing an offense that finished fourth in college football in points scored per game and fifth in total offense isn’t easy.

Ask fans and experts for one area the Tigers need to be better in 2020, though, and using the middle of the field more effectively and the short passing game comes up over and over.

Maybe watching Trevor Lawrence toss up 50/50 ball after 50/50 ball frustrated people. Maybe it wasn’t having slot receiver Hunter Renfrow around anymore to run an inside route and convert a third-and-6.

Maybe it’s the fact that Clemson has yet replace the production and threat of tight end Jordan Leggett, who was a middle-of-the-field mismatch when this offense was humming during the Deshaun Watson-led days.

Maybe it’s all of those things rolled up into one. The Tigers are at their best when they’re using the entire field.

Still, this was the 23rd-ranked passing offense in America last year, and it was far from terrible. Receiver Tee Higgins put up 1,167 yards and 13 touchdowns. Justyn Ross followed up his 1,000-yard freshman year with 865 receiving yards and eight TDs as a sophomore.

However, stats don’t carry over from one season to the next. Few players know that as well as Clemson receiver Amari Rodgers.

Higgins turned pro in the offseason. Ross is back, as is tight end Braden Galloway, who was suspended for all but two postseason games in 2019 for testing positive for ostarine in 2018.

Those players will factor into the offense in a big way, but the man who could be the key to Clemson stretching defenses in all areas of the field is Rodgers, who saw a significant downtick in his numbers from 2018 to 2019.

Before getting to that dropoff, there is one major factor to note: Rodgers tore his ACL last March, spent nearly all of the offseason rehabbing instead of building chemistry with his QB and worked relentlessly to return to the field by Week 2 of the regular season.

While it was believed early on that Rodgers, who doubles as a punt returner, could miss most, if not all, of the 2019 season, he went on to catch 30 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games.

No. 3️⃣ is just getting started! 🔥#ALLIN🐅🐾 pic.twitter.com/2gOslkanZn

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) February 21, 2020

In most situations, that would be celebrated, considering the major knee injury suffered earlier in the year. But here’s the thing, Rodgers didn’t look like a player who was coming off surgery and rehab early in the season, yet his usage in the offense was puzzling at times.

After sitting out the season opener against Georgia Tech, he suited up and played the next week against Texas A&M. He caught two passes for six yards on planned plays to get his feet wet again.

The following Saturday, he produced his biggest highlight of the season, an 87-yard catch-and-run touchdown that left Syracuse defenders in the dust.

Rodgers finished with a season-high 121 yards and two touchdowns on four catches. It looked like a sign of things to come with him back in the offense.

It didn’t go that way, though. He caught one pass for zero yards the next week against Charlotte, which is fine. That starters played very little in an easy rout over an overmatched opponent.

Amari Rodgers and Trevor Lawrence 

But the following game, the offense sputtered at North Carolina. Clemson relied too much on a passing game that just tested the edges, and the Tigers didn’t connect on a high percentage. Lawrence was 18-of-30 in a game in which he played every possession in a 21-20 win.

Rodgers, meanwhile, simply wasn’t very effective when they did get him the ball on three passes.

It was really a roller-coaster season from there on out. Rodgers was involved against Florida State, catching five passes for 44 yards, and Louisville (3 catches, 78 yards).

He averaged 35.5 yards per catch and caught a touchdown on two receptions against Wofford in a blowout. Then the numbers and usage took a huge dive.

Rodgers had three catches for seven yards at N.C. State, 0-for-0 against Wake Forest, 2-for-8 at South Carolina and another 0-for-0 in the ACC Championship game versus Virginia.

Rodgers did make a huge 38-yard catch on Clemson’s key, go-ahead drive against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Fiesta Bowl that helped win the game.

Then he had two catches for eight yards against LSU in the national title game.

Before that final contest, Rodgers had already announced he would spurn the NFL and return for his senior season, feeling like there was more to accomplish at the collegiate level.

He’s right. There is for him and he needs to prove more to NFL scouts and executives, but he also needs the opportunities to do so.

Rodgers caught 55 passes in 2018, 25 more than last season. He had 575 yards and four touchdowns. However, his yards per catch (10.45) in 2018 was considerably lower than 2019 (14.2).

Still, he was much more effective as a sophomore in that short and medium passing game, and that was with Renfrow still on the team. Even in his freshman season of 2017, when Clemson was still trying to mix him in with an already established group, he was used in 11 games.

Running back Travis Etienne had more catches and yards than Rodgers in 2019. There were some games Rodgers didn’t look like he factored into the game plan at all.

It’s hard to put it all on returning from injury when you see what he did against Syracuse in just his second game back.

Amari Rodgers (3)

Clemson needs him more than ever in 2020. Rodgers will be and should be the alpha dog in the receiver room based on his experience and leadership.

“He is a great leader,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said last year after Rodgers returned. “His work ethic is through the roof. That's why he was able to come back. He's just always working. He really kind of carries himself like a pro. I've never coached a great pro, but to me that's how he handles himself. He handles himself like he's a 30-year-old man that's been playing this game for a long time.”

Clemson will have Ross, who can be a star, and returnees Joseph Ngata, Frank Ladsen, Brannon Spector and Cornell Powell in the mix. Freshman E.J. Williams could have a chance to factor in as well.

It just so happens that Clemson has a need to work underneath more and a guy who can do that. Rodgers is a key if this passing game wants to continue to be a force behind Lawrence.

It remains to be seen, if he’ll ever become a consistent option in the game plan, but it's something to monitor during spring practice, which begins Feb. 26.