Two Former Clemson Stars Highlighted as Players 'To Root For' in 2024 NFL Season
Even though the majority of Clemson fans are focused on the upcoming college football season, that doesn't mean they aren't also monitoring how past stars of the program are doing at the professional level.
Trevor Lawrence just signed a massive contract extension, Deshaun Watson is looking for a bounce back performance with the Cleveland Browns, and many others are maintaining their statuses as impact players for their respective teams.
Someone who was in the headlines a lot this offseason was Tee Higgins.
The formers standout with the Tigers has been searching for a contract extension of his own with the Cincinnati Bengals, and when nothing got done, they hit him with the franchise tag that he refused to sign while asking to be traded. There were some questions if he would actually sit out if he remained on the team, but things were resolved and Higgins will be playing in 2024.
Because of that, he joined another past Clemson wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, on a list of players "to root for" this upcoming season put together by Tom Blair and Dan Parr of NFL Network.
For Higgins, his finances were the main reason why he was included.
"... he's one more productive campaign away from truly hitting paydirt on the open market ... If Higgins helps Joe Burrow push Cincinnati back into title contention, he'll be in line to make bank next March," they write.
There's no doubt that another successful year that adds to his career marks of 3,684 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns will go a long way in ensuring he'll be paid like one of the best wide receivers in the game.
Hopkins was listed for more of a legacy type of reason.
"Hopkins is the active leader in career receptions (928) and ranks second among active players in career receiving yards (12,355), but he sits at 21st and 23rd in those categories, respectively, on the all-time lists. If he can get to 75 catches and 1,000 yards again in 2024, he should jump into the top 20 in both pursuits -- and that should only help when it comes time to weigh his long-term legacy," Blair and Parr write.
The former Tiger was regarded as one of the best players at his position during his prime years with the Houston Texans. He posted five 1,000-yard-or-greater seasons during his time there and led the league in receiving touchdowns in 2017.
Clemson fans will certainly be rooting for both of these players to have successful showings during the upcoming NFL season.
BRAD WAKAI