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Clemson Fans Should Have Their Eyes on One Player vs Virginia Tech
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- Clemson Fans Should Have Their Eyes on One Player vs Virginia Tech
(USA TODAY Network)
Entering the season, there was a whole lot of hoopla surrounding Clemson Tigers wide receiver Naeem Burroughs.
Burroughs was a four-star freshman heading into his debut campaign with two other four-star freshmen at the position in Gordon Sellars and Connor Salmin.
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During the offseason, Burroughs was initially considered, by far, the best of the bunch, and there was even talk that he could become Clemson's No. 3 receiver behind T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco. So, ahead of Tyler Brown.
Obviously, that has not happened, as Burroughs actually fell behind Sellars in fall camp and was M.I.A. through the first five games of the season for the Tigers.
But finally, last Saturday, Clemson decided to throw Burroughs into the fray against Charleston Southern, and the first-year playmaker logged a couple of catches for 19 yards while also carrying the ball once for six yards.
A dynamic weapon capable of game-breaking plays, there was hype surrounding Burroughs for a reason. He's immensely talented, and the general expectation is that he will be a major factor in the Tigers' offense next season once Moore and Wesco likely depart for the NFL. Brown, meanwhile, will be graduating.
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But is there a chance we could see more of Burroughs against Virginia Tech and beyond?
Head coach Dabo Swinney specifically singled out Burroughs while speaking to reporters this week, saying that he was particularly excited about what he had seen from the youngster in recent weeks.
Obviously, Charleston Southern represented a soft landing zone for Burroughs, so just because he played last Saturday doesn't necessarily mean we'll see a whole lot of him the rest of the way. But Swinney might give him a shot against a weak Hokies defense .
That's especially considering how much Moore and Wesco struggled last weekend.
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Clemson is still trying to win games, so I'm not sure how much Swinney will test fate against a relatively strong ACC opponent. The Tigers are 4-2 and have a generally easy schedule remaining, so a 10-2 campaign, while unlikely, is not entirely out of the question.
So for now, Swinney is almost surely just going to go with the players who give him the best chance to win. The question is whether or not he feels that Burroughs could factor into that equation.
If Burroughs does ultimately get some snaps on Saturday, it will be very interesting to see how Clemson deploys him and if it makes it somewhat of a priority to try and get him the ball in space.
Tigers fans should be watching their freshman receiver very closely in this matchup.
