Dabo Swinney impressed by DJ Uiagalelei in latest Clemson scrimmage

The Clemson Tigers are about to enter their first season in the post-Trevor Lawrence era. D.J. Uiagalelei is in line to take over as Clemson’s starting quarterback. So far, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney likes what he has seen out of Uiagalelei.

When Lawrence was sidelined for two games with COVID last year, Uiagalelei got his chance to start for Clemson. He led a come from behind victory over Boston College with 342 yards and three total touchdowns. In the following week, Clemson traveled to Notre Dame, the fourth-ranked team in the nation at the time. Uiagalelei impressed in the loss with 439 yards and three total touchdowns. In his 117 career pass attempts, Uiagalelei has not thrown an interception.

With Lawrence now in the NFL, Uiagalalei is the full-time starting quarterback for Clemson. His talent is among the best in the nation, leading many to believe that Clemson might not see much of a drop off this year. Swinney wants to see Uiagalelei continue to improve while commanding the offense, but was impressed with his play in this weekend’s scrimmage.

Swinney: Uiagalelei is locked in

“Just command of the offense, see him respond,” Swinney said when asked what he wants to see from Uiagalelei in Clemson’s scrimmages. “This is a tough group you’re going against here. There are some live bullets flying around here. I mean, these dudes we have coming off of this front, these blitzes that we got and the tight coverage that you see. I just wanted to see him in command of the offense. And again, it’s not always going to be perfect. But just manage the offense. Stay within the system. How is he going to respond to a negative play? How is he going to handle momentum?

“There are going to be some momentum changes in the scrimmage, so how will he respond to that? He was solid. I think he probably had a few throws he wishes he could have back. Didn’t turn it over, so that was good to see. Took care of the ball, had a couple of nice decisions in the run game. So he’s got a good command. There’s a few technical fundamental things that I think he can sometimes get a little careless with and needs to be a little more disciplined with. But nobody is more locked in than that guy.”