Clemson freshman receiver Troy Stellato is 'free to play'

After being a highly-touted prospect, wide receiver Troy Stellato has barely played this season. Prior to the beginning of the season, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney announced Stellato would redshirt — he was simply too far behind, too late in the process.

The freshman wide receiver has one catch for twelve yards, coming in a 49-3 victory over South Carolina State. While we haven’t seen much of anything from Stellato, Swinney mentioned that former four-star recruit is available.

“He’s free to play,” stated Swinney. “He did play four games. He’s not playing because we just don’t want him to play .. he came in here injured. Then, he came in here way behind. Way behind with a lot to learn, but he’s made steady progress.”

Evidently, Swinney believes Stellato simply isn’t ready yet. Moreover, the Tigers coach elaborated on the potential he sees in the young wide receiver.

“You can’t just be fast, you got to know what to do. That’s an area that he’s still improving,” said Swinney. “He’s going to be a good player, he has improved a ton .. focus has gotten better, he’s still maturing but he’ll be with us and he’ll have to be ready to go.”

With Clemson twirling in the midst of a lost season, perhaps Stellato can carve out a space to learn. Swinney expects the Tigers to come back with a vengeance, and Stellato can play a pivotal role in their eventual revenge tour.

Dabo Swinney on DJ Uiagalelei

While Stellato has struggled to see the field at all, Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei has struggled on it. Through a year where many people expected him to be a Heisman candidate this season, his stats have regressed rather dramatically this season.

According to Swinney, the explanation is rather simple — the Tigers coach believes they just aren’t as good of a team around their quarterback this season.

“Well, do y’all think D.J. was pretty good last year? We were better around him. It’s that simple,” said Swinney. “When Deshaun [Watson] was here, when Trevor [Lawrence] came here, we were better around those guys.”

It’s been baffling to many why Uiagalelei has struggled so much this season, but Clemson’s offensive line and wide receiving corps may be the culprits. Perhaps when Troy Stellato gets the training wheels taken off, he can be a help to revitalizing D.J. Uiagalelei.