Dabo Swinney tabs Clemson receiver as 'one of the best in the country'
Adam Randall flashed his potential at times as a freshman last season, but the torn ACL he suffered last spring clearly slowed down the Clemson receiver’s development.
Randall returned to action only a few games into the 2022 season. However, he wasn’t as explosive as he was pre-injury. Based on what he has seen this offseason, Dabo Swinney expects to see a different version of Randall this fall.
“He’s just a more knowledgeable, more confident kid because he’s more experienced. You just don’t know what you don’t know,” Swinney said at ACC Football Kickoff. “And then obviously with Adam, he got hurt in the spring. He missed all of the summer, and he’s battling back from a knee injury. So he missed a lot of time, you know, that freshmen need. Everybody needs it, and particularly a true freshman.”
Randall caught 10 passes for 128 yards for the Tigers last season while appearing in 12 games, with one start.
His most productive outing came in the last game of the year for Clemson when he caught three passes for 44 yards in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee. When healthy, Randall is fast and physical and can make impressive catches down field. Swinney believes he has a chance to be one of the best receivers in the country this fall.
“He kind of started to hit his stride toward the end of the season. I think things were slowing down a little bit. But man, he looks amazing. I mean he’s, I don’t know, 225-226 pounds. He’s about five percent body fat,” Swinney said. “I mean he’s just strong. He can really run. I mean he’s one of the best receivers in the country. Just excited to see him healthy and feeling good. If he’s on the field then good things are going to happen with that kid.”
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney shares his confidence level in Garrett Riley, Cade Klubnik
Adam Randall is an important piece of a Clemson offense that Tigers fans are hoping will be much better this fall.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney loves what he has seen from new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and starting quarterback Cade Klubnik. But Swinney also knows that until the duo goes out and performs on game day, nothing else matters.
As Swinney pointed out at the ACC Football Kickoff, it’s one thing to perform well in practice. It’s another thing to go out and impress under the bright lights.
“We’ve gotta do it on game day,” Swinney said. “I mean I saw some good things in practice, for sure. But I’ll feel a lot better when I see it on game day.”
One aspect that gives Swinney reassurance is the fact that Klubnik and Riley have both excelled in the past, even if they have yet to do so at Clemson.
Klubnik was a great high school quarterback who led his team to back-to-back state titles in high school. He was named the MVP of the Elite 11 Camp prior to his senior year of high school and was ranked by the On3 Consensus rankings as a five-star prospect and the top quarterback in the country for the class of 2022.
“The biggest thing is just track record. I mean Cade, this kid’s been a winner a long time,” Swinney said. “It’s easy to watch his practice and watch his skillset and go, ‘OK, that translates.’ We’ve got a healthy team now. It’s easy to watch [Will] Shipley and [Phil] Mafah and all of the good things that I see in our offensive line and get excited about it.”