Clemson's D.J. Uiagalelei named top-10 breakout quarterback candidate

Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei is set to take over the Tigers starting job this fall. He was recently named a top-10 breakout candidate for the 2021 season by Pro Football Focus.

Uiagalelei is poised to be one of the country’s biggest names this season as he inherits a Clemson offense previously led by Trevor Lawrence. As a true freshman last year, Uiagalelei was more than just a backup to Lawrence. After the Jaguars first-overall pick was diagnosed with COVID-19, Uiagalelei took the reins of the offense for two games: A home contest with Boston College and an away game at Notre Dame.

In his first-career start against Boston College, Uiagalelei showed why he’s more than capable of being Clemson’s quarterback. He completed 30 of 41 passing attempts, throwing for 342 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions en route to a 34-28 victory.

The following week against Notre Dame, Uiagalelei and the Tigers fell narrowly to the Fighting Irish, losing 47-40 in double overtime, however, Uiagalelei still had a very impressive performance. He finished 29 of 44 for 439 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Although the game went to double overtime, Uiagalelei still etched his name into record books. His 439 passing yards were the most ever thrown against the Irish by an opposing quarterback, breaking a record previously set by USC’s Carson Palmer in 2002 with 425.

Uiagalelei proved he is capable of more than just passing. He may have only racked up 28 carries for 60 yards, but the majority of his rushing attempts came in the redzone and resulted in four touchdowns.

In his young Clemson career, Uiagalelei has completed 66.7% of his passes for 914 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. According to Pro Football Focus, Uiagalelei finished his freshman year with an 83.6 passing grade and five big-time throws without recording a single turnover-worthy play.

“The 6-foot-4, 250-pound quarterback made the right decisions with the ball and unleashed his cannon of a right arm, even if there were some accuracy issues on sideline throws,” Anthony Treash wrote. “Of his 29 passes that traveled over five yards downfield, only 31% were accurate while 44.8% were entirely uncatchable, something teams will be monitoring this fall.”

Uiagalelei, a native of Bellflower, California, was a five-star recruit and one of the nation’s top-10 quarterback prospects. He threw for 10,496 yards in his high school career and had 127 touchdowns, coupled with just 11 interceptions. Additionally, Uiagalelei showed his abilities on the ground in high school, as he rushed for over 1,100 yards and 18 touchdowns at St. John Bosco High, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.