Clemson’s passing attack is unlike anything Alabama has seen all season. Their wide receiver unit — which consists of Mike Williams, Artavius Scott, Deon Cain, Hunter Renfroe and Ray-Ray McCloud — is the best in the country. They also have an elite tight end for their Heisman Trophy finalist Deshaun Watson to throw to.
Here’s a look at Clemson’s main weapons in their passing game.
Deshaun Watson (#4)
Position: Quarterback
Class: Junior
Height: 6’3
Weight: 215
Hometown: Gainesville, Georgia
2016 Statistics: 352/523 (67.3%), 4,173 passing yards, 38 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, 581 rushing yards, eight touchdowns
Player Analysis: There is a reason that Deshaun Watson has been a Heisman Trophy finalist in both 2015 and 2016. There are very few players in college football football that can do what he can.
During his time with Clemson, Watson has been an extremely productive player. He has thrown for 9,748 yards with 87 touchdowns in only 37 games — averages out to 263.5 yards per game. On top of this, Watson has added in 1,886 rushing yards to go with 25 rushing touchdowns. His record as the starting quarterback for Clemson sits at 31-3.
As far as skill set, there are a lot of things to like about Watson’s game. He has a quick delivery, solid arm-strength and he can deliver some beautiful balls when he is on his game. The best game I’ve ever personally seen Watson play was against Alabama last year. The throws that he was making couldn’t have been any better, and one could argue that he was the sole reason that Clemson was even in that game at all.
He can make all the throws required to be a successful quarterback in the NFL, but there are some things he needs to work on. First off, Watson’s ball placement is shaky at best. Like I previously mentioned, when he is on, there is no stopping him. The problem is that he isn’t always on his game. Way too often, Watson will stare down his primary read which sets up opposing defensive backs to make clean breaks on the ball.
Another issue — although, it can be a good thing at times — is that Watson has a gunslinger mentality. You aren’t going to break or scare him. The Clemson offense has lived by this personality trait, but it could also end up being their downfall as well.
Now, something that hasn’t been brought up yet is Watson’s ability with his feet. While he isn’t the most polished pocket passer, he doesn’t really need to be. His ability to extend plays, get outside the pocket and deliver a tight, accurate football is probably Watson’s biggest strength as a passer. He also has incredible field vision as a runner that really helps him create when plays break down.
Alabama is going to need try to keep Watson in the pocket, and they most certainly don’t need to let him escape to the right side of the field where is a much more accurate passer. He shredded Alabama’s defense last year in the national championship game, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Watson can play two “perfect” games in a row against one of the nation’s best defenses.
Mike Williams (#7)
Position: Wide Receiver
Class: Redshirt Junior
Height: 6’3
Weight: 225
Hometown: Vance, South Carolina
2016 Statistics: 90 receptions, 1,273 receiving yards (14.1 ypc), 10 touchdowns
Player Analysis: Mike Williams is everything you could want in a No. 1 receiver for your offense. He has size (6’3 225-pounds), speed, body control and the leaping ability to go up and get the ball at the highest point.
Williams is a threat from anywhere on the field as a result of his ability to win short, intermediate and deep routes. He doesn’t mind mixing things up and getting his hands dirty sifting through traffic on the back-end, and he has shown the ability to haul in balls from a variety of catch-points.
As impressive as Williams is at making acrobatic, seemingly impossible catches, he does tend to struggle with what should be easy completions due to a lack of focus at times. Those focus drops have killed some key drives for the Tigers this season, but Alabama should expect a fully focused Williams after he was forced to miss last year’s national championship game with a neck injury.
During Clemson’s opening game against Wofford last season, Williams was making a touchdown catch when he ran into the goal post and injured his neck — immediately ending his season. There doesn’t seem to be any lingering effects from this injury, however, so don’t expect him to be anything less than 100% come Monday night.
Alabama has done an excellent job against elite wide receivers this season. They held USC’s JuJu Smith-Schuster to only one catch for nine yards on the opening week of the season, and most recently, they held Washington’s John Ross to only five catches for 28 yards. Stopping Williams is going to need to be a priority for Alabama’s defense. Despite his impressive size, he does struggle at times with press coverage. Alabama should use this to their advantage.
Deon Cain (#8)
Position: Wide Receiver
Class: Sophomore
Height: 6’1
Weight: 210
Hometown: Tampa, Florida
2016 Statistics: 33 receptions, 630 receiving yards (19.1 ypc), nine touchdowns
Player Analysis: Deon Cain isn’t considered Clemson’s No.2 receiver, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t made a significant impact on their season.
Cain is second on the team in touchdown receptions (9), and he averages the most yards per catch among any of the starting receivers (19.1). The former five-star receiver — who will be returning to his hometown of Tampa for the national championship game — is an electric play-maker who can win deep.
Eight of Cain’s nine touchdowns this season have come off of throws that were 20-plus yards downfield. He is exactly the type of player that can exploit Alabama’s issues covering the deep ball, and it’ll be interesting to see how often Watson targets him despite his status as the No. 3 receiver.
Another interesting point to make is that the Clemson offense scored 40 points against Alabama in the national championship game last season. As a part of that, Deshaun Watson threw for 405 yards and four touchdowns against the Tide. Now, the interesting part? Both receivers listed on this article as impact players for this game did not play. Mike Williams (neck injury) and Deon Cain (suspension) were both not available for last year’s national championship game. Two guys that have put up a combined 19 touchdowns for Clemson’s high-powered offense this season.
Washington’s passing attack was impressive, but it doesn’t even begin to compare to what Alabama is going to have to go up against in Tampa on Monday night. The Tide’s secondary is strong, but they’ll need to bring their A-game if they want to avoid a repeat performance from last season.
Jordan Leggett (#16)
Position: Tight End
Class: Senior
Height: 6’5
Weight: 260
Hometown: Navarre, Florida
2016 Statistics: 39 receptions, 641 receiving yards, seven touchdowns
Player Analysis: Jordan Leggett can be a major problem for defenses. Alabama learned that the hard way last year when Leggett hauled in five receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown. He has impressive size for the position, but it’s his combination of that size with his athleticism that makes him such a match-up nightmare.
Leggett stands at 6’5 260-pounds with long arms that allows him to have an impressive catch-radius. Despite his size, he is still smooth when going out for routes, and he does an excellent job of making plays after the catch. He isn’t an elite route runner by any means, but he is effective getting up the seams which is an area that Alabama is going to need to look out for in this football game.
Even though the Clemson offense has an overwhelming amount of weapons in the passing game, Watson still loves to target Leggett fairly often. Like most elite tight ends, Leggett has been Watson’s safety net and third-down chain mover in a lot of crucial situations.
Alabama safety Ronnie Harrison does have the size (6’3 216-pounds) and athleticism to hang with a guy like Leggett, so don’t be surprised if that is a consistent match-up in this game. With Harrison’s physical style of play, he can effect Leggett’s ability in the passing game because Leggett does tend to allow opposing defensive backs to knock him off his route.
Leggett versus Alabama’s defense will be an underrated match-up, but it’s definitely one to monitor.
Clint Lamb is a columnist for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “follow” him on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
