ACC Football

NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah believes Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the early favorite to get selected first overall in the 2021 draft, is a unique talent with no direct comparables among the current group of NFL quarterbacks.

Jeremiah posted his initial evaluation Thursday and explained if he was forced to select the most similar signal-caller, it would be Houston Texans starter and former Tigers standout Deshaun Watson:

"There really isn't a comparison for Lawrence because of his unique measurables and athleticism. However, if you look at every current starting NFL quarterback, I believe he compares most favorably to a man who preceded him at Clemson, Deshaun Watson. Both players have lean, athletic frames and they are both capable of making winning plays from inside and outside the pocket. They can both drive the ball effectively and they share a competitiveness that's obvious on tape. While they are effective runners, they find success on the ground in different ways. Watson is more elusive, while Lawrence has more pure speed. Watson has emerged as one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL, and Lawrence has the upside to join him in that group in the near future."

Lawrence has been nothing short of outstanding across his first two seasons at Clemson.

The 20-year-old Tennessee native has completed 65.5 percent of his throws for 6,945 yards with 66 touchdowns and 12 interceptions across 30 collegiate appearances. He's added 740 rushing yards and 10 scores on the ground.

He arrived to the Tigers as a 5-star prospect and the consensus No. 1 player in the 2018 recruiting class, and he's continued to look like a can't-miss prospect during his time in Death Valley.

Jeremiah referenced former Stanford and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck as the last player to so firmly establish himself as an undoubtedly high-end talent before reaching the NFL, though he noted Lawrence still has some developing to do during what will likely be his final year at Clemson:

"Lawrence has all of the necessary tools to emerge as an elite quarterback at the next level. However, there is still some development needed. He's not at the same level of consistency that Luck displayed during his time at Stanford. I'm not talking about the statistics—I'm talking about the overall command and ownership of every key situation. I think Lawrence can—and will get—to that level, but he's not quite there yet."

The 2019 First-Team All-ACC selection also owns plenty of big-game experience. He led the Tigers to the national championship game each of the past two years, beating Alabama for the title as a freshman but losing to LSU in last season's title clash.

Watson wasn't viewed in quite the same unstoppable lens during his rise. He was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school and slid to the 12th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.

A redo of that draft would likely see him go second behind only the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, however, as he's been an electrifying playmaker for the Texans.

He's accounted for 86 touchdowns (71 passing, 14 rushing and one receiving) across 38 games over his first three NFL seasons. He ranks sixth among all NFL quarterbacks in passer rating (101.0) over that span, per Pro Football Reference.

Watson has also led Houston to the playoffs each of the past two years, earning his first postseason victory in a Wild Card Round game against the Buffalo Bills last season.

Lawrence, if he continues on his current trajectory and reaches his full potential, has the ability to eventually challenge Mahomes in the conversation as the league's best quarterback.

Even if he falls short of that bar and settles in as something closer to Watson, a fringe top-five QB, he's well worth the No. 1 overall pick. His bust potential is remarkably low at this stage.

Cornerback Tony Grimes, who is ranked seventh in 247Sports' composite rankings for the class of 2021, has chosen to attend North Carolina. 

Grimes announced his decision on Tuesday, picking the Tar Heels over Georgia and Ohio State: 

Grimes plays for Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The 6'0", 180-pound corner is the top-rated defensive back on the list and only one of three cornerbacks to receive 5-star ratings.

Brian Dohn of 247Sports provided a scouting report on Grimes and compared him to Chicago Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller:

"Wide shoulders and good length. Frame of safety with cornerback skills. Instinctual player with high skill level. Physical and smooth. Tracks ball well and has great timing. Opens hips and runs with ease. Long strider who can cover on long crossing routes and deep throws.

"Strong upper body helps re-route receivers with jams. Comfortable in backpedal and explodes forward out of it. Good tackler and asset in run defense. High IQ on and off field. Leadership qualities. Must get stronger in lower body. Ready to play at elite program when he steps on campus. First-round NFL draft pick potential."

ESPN also thinks highly of Grimes, with the outlet ranking him sixth on its class of 2021 list.

Grimes garnered much interest, including offers from LSU, Clemson and Alabama. 

North Carolina eventually won the race for Grimes, and the corner should have an opportunity for immediate playing time as a freshman.

Players like Grimes can boost a program to new heights. Passing games are harder to stop every year, to the point where LSU steamrolled its competition last year behind a mind-boggling 60 touchdown passes from quarterback Joe Burrow.

It's imperative that programs amass as much defensive back talent as possible to at least slow down scoring, and that's where Grimes comes in.

Schools need defensive backs like Grimes to help stop schools who seem to produce NFL-caliber quarterbacks and wide receivers en masse.

On that note, Grimes has the potential to be a shutdown corner.

The Clemson football team has now had 37 of its members test positive for COVID-19 after 14 more confirmed cases were announced Friday, per Matt Connolly of The State. 

Clemson announced that 23 players tested positive last week in addition to two football team staff members and three student-athletes from other sports.

Tests done in early June, when the football and men's and women's basketball teams returned to campus for voluntary workouts, returned just three positive tests for student-athletes, per Connolly.

The news comes amid word Friday from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) that there were 1,273 new confirmed cases since the previous day.

There have been a total of 30,263 confirmed cases in the state, including 1,106 on Thursday and 1,291 on Wednesday. Figures have starkly risen since one month ago, when South Carolina announced 209 new cases on May 24.

The city of Clemson is located in Pickens and Anderson counties, which combined had 44 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, via the state. Charleston County had the most with 216.

The Clemson football team held a demonstration in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and social justice June 13. Roughly 3,000 people attended the event, per Scott Keepfer of the Greenville News.

That might lead one to wonder whether the demonstration had a significant impact on the stark rise in football players' positive tests, but the athletic department does not believe that led to the cases.

"There's not a prevailing theory on it," Clemson athletic department spokesperson Jeff Kallin told Keepfer. "Is there a ground zero? No, not that we're aware of. There were approximately 2,900 people at the demonstration that weren't Clemson student-athletes, so it's hard to know for sure."

Clemson football is scheduled to begin its season on the road against ACC rival Georgia Tech on Sept. 3.

Wake Forest head football coach Dave Clawson said Thursday he's going to self-isolate from his wife, cancer survivor Catherine Clawson, for the entire 2020 season beginning with training camp July 12.

Clawson explained his wife is at a higher risk for severe complications from COVID-19 because of her reduced white blood cell count, and it could prove difficult for him to avoid the coronavirus while working alongside the nearly 200 people involved in the Demon Deacons program, per ESPN's David M. Hale.

"When I'm working on a daily basis, coaching 110 to 120 players and having a staff of 50, I don't know how I could go home at night and honestly tell my wife I couldn't have come in contact with [the coronavirus]," he said. "I love coaching, but I love my wife more. There's no way I'm going to do anything that would put her at risk."

Clawson said the staff has informed all players that activities will be voluntary throughout the 2020 season and that their scholarship won't be rescinded if they decide to sit out for health or safety reasons related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Hale.

"We've told our players that to play college football has always required dedication and sacrifice, and if we want to play football this year, they're going to have to sacrifice more than they ever have before in terms of curtailing social life and not being around large groups of people, and the staff is no different," he said.

Penn State head coach James Franklin confirmed Tuesday he's also planning to spend the upcoming campaign away from his family.

In 2014, Franklin revealed his daughter Addison had been diagnosed with sickle cell anemia, a disease related to the body's red blood cells.

He said on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (via Phillip Bupp of The Comeback) they decided it was best if his wife and kids remain in Florida while he coaches the Nittany Lions.

"I have two daughters," Franklin said. "My one youngest daughter has sickle cell disease, so it's changed dynamics in our family. My wife and kids are going to stay in Florida for the season. And I'm going to be in Happy Valley just because we think that's the right thing to do for my daughter with sickle cell."

He added: "There was a lot of tears. There was a lot of emotion having this conversation with my daughters. So a lot of heartache over it."

People who are immunocompromised face a higher risk of serious complications from COVID-19.

For now, the NCAA hasn't announced plans to shorten or cancel the 2020 season because of the coronavirus despite a recent surge in cases, including a single-day record Thursday.

Week 1 is scheduled to kick off Aug. 29. Wake Forest opens the season Sept. 4 against Old Dominion, while Penn State starts with a Sept. 5 matchup against Kent State.

Bleacher Report's David Gardner interviews athletes and other sports figures for the podcast How to Survive Without Sports.

Former LSU linebacker Kendrick Scott has started a petition to have the school's football venue, Doak S. Campbell Stadium, renamed in honor of legendary coach Bobby Bowden because of Campbell's pro-segregation history. 

The petition reads as follows (h/t Wayne McGahee III of the Tallahassee Democrat):

"The stadium at FSU was named after Doak Campbell a former FSU President. While, the tradition has been preserved, in reflection his non inclusive views of blacks as a segregationist is divisive, therefore his name should be removed from a stadium that has been home to many Black football players helping to build the school and the tradition to what it has become today: a national treasure.

"Therefore, this petition seeks to change the name of the stadium to the Bobby Bowden Stadium and change Bobby Bowden field to Charlie Ward field. Charlie Ward was recently polled as the greatest Seminole of all time and rightfully so. He broke a modern day color barrier by being the first Black football player to win a Heisman Trophy at a Florida School. He remains the most decorated college football player in history."

Former Seminoles fullback Freddie Stevenson agreed that a change is needed:

Campbell was the school's first president in 1950. It had previously been the Florida State College for Women. 

The university has also sought to have B.K. Roberts' name taken off its main law building. Roberts was a former Florida Supreme Court Justice who was also in favor of segregation. The Florida Senate voted in favor of renaming the building, though the state House did not pass the bill. 

"Florida State University's position has not changed on removing B.K Roberts' name from the College of Law building," the school's associate vice president for University Relations, Kathleen Daly, said in a statement. "We, together with our students, will pursue legislative bill sponsors again on this issue for the 2021 Legislative Session in March." 

It remains to be seen if the a name change for the football stadium will gain the same traction. 

Twenty-three Clemson football players have tested positive for COVID-19, Grace Raynor of The Athletic reported Friday.

The results came after 315 Clemson student-athletes and staff were tested, per Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports. Five additional student-athletes and staff tested positive, resulting in 28 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

More than half of the players are asymptomatic, per Raynor, and none of the positive tests have resulted in hospitalizations.

Players who tested positive will be in isolation for at least 10 days and will need to be asymptomatic for the final three days before they can emerge from isolation. Voluntary workouts will continue.

Clemson had announced two positive COVID-19 tests for its 104 football players last week, according to Thamel.

On Thursday, Zoe Nicholson of the Greenville News reported that COVID-19 cases have risen in South Carolina:

"Since Clemson launched its three-phase reopening plan on June 1, Pickens County has seen more than 130 new cases of COVID-19, according to an analysis of State Department of Health and Environmental Control data.

"As of June 17, Pickens County had a reported 323 cases of the virus since announcing its first known case in the county on March 20, according to DHEC."

Per Matt Connolly of The State, the football team and men's and women's basketball teams returned to Clemson at the beginning of June after the NCAA permitted on-campus voluntary workouts. The number of athletes in that group totaled 128, per Will Vandervort of the Clemson Insider.

The volleyball and men's and women's soccer teams returned to Clemson this week.

The fall semester is scheduled to begin Aug. 19, and the Tigers are slated to open their football season Sept. 3 against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

NFL star DeAndre Hopkins wasn't surprised by the heavy presence of Confederate flags in Clemson, South Carolina, on Saturday:

The video was taken before an on-campus protest Saturday that called for racial equality, which was led by student-athletes. According to Conor Hughes of the Greenville News, about 3,000 people took part.

Hopkins—a South Carolina native who went to nearby D.W. Daniel High School and spent three years at Clemson—posted about the event on social media:

There have been worldwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality since George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed after white police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes.

Hopkins has used his platform to speak up about these issues, especially on social media. The All-Pro receiver also took part in a video with other high-profile players sending a message to the NFL to condemn racism.

On Wednesday, NASCAR banned the Confederate flag at events, saying it "runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans."

With protests against systemic racism and police brutality continuing to gain momentum around the country, Florida State's football players wanted to make sure the message was heard loud and clear on campus.

To make that happen, defensive tackle Cory Durden first went to his head coach, Mike Norvell, to help produce a unity walk that would continue to spark discussions of meaningful change in Tallahassee, Florida.

"I feel like with the coronavirus and everything that's going on around the world, I feel like we needed to do something to bring everyone together," Durden told Curt Weiler of the Tallahassee Democrat. "This is a way to get around each other, get the chemistry and just support a cause that is important... Times are changing in America. It's a different time right now, it's just so tough with everything going on. Personally, I just had a child and it's scary. How am I supposed to raise my child with everything going on in the world?"

The walk took place Saturday, with players marching from Doak Campbell Stadium to the state capitol building about 1.5 miles away.

At the start, Norvell addressed the crowd of hundreds who came out to show their support.

"A unified country shows the importance and necessity of all black lives and the importance of everybody being on that page and that message to unify together," Norvell said. "I'm grateful to see everybody out here be a part of this."

The march is one of several different demonstrations that have taken place on college campuses around the country with football players leading the way.

On June 3, players a the University of Missouri led a march through campus that ended with a voter registration event. Friday, players at the University of Texas sent a letter to administrators outlining demands that would help address racism at the school, while on Saturday, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney marched with his team through campus in South Carolina in the team-organized "A March for Change."

In Florida, FSU players were joined by people from nearby Florida A&M as well as Tallahassee Community College and the Tallahassee community at large.

"One of the proudest moments I've had was earlier this week," Norvell said. "When one of our football players took ownership and leadership in helping to organize this entire event and the encouragement and support of this team to include all of Tallahassee so that we could have a moment together showing our support for this entire community and this entire country with one unified voice and one unified action."

Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney has joined his team and other members of the community in an on-campus demonstration for social justice, per Aaron Cheslock of Fox Carolina:

The football team organized "A March for Change," per Marc Whiteman of WYFF 4. March leaders include quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Darien Rencher, wide receiver Cornell Powell and linebacker Mike Jones Jr.

The march was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, with organizers asking everyone to wear black, don masks and maintain social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Swinney offered a few words at the rally, per Cheslock:

"It has to be everybody’s responsible to be more aware, to learn more and to speak out against racial inequality," Swinney said in part, per Matt Connolly of The State.

He also added: "I'm embarrassed to say that there’s things on this campus I didn’t really understand. I knew the basics but not the details. But I’ve learned and I’ve listened."

Lawrence also tweeted this picture from the march and gave a few comments as well:

Swinney had come under fire recently after retaining assistant coach Danny Pearman despite word emerging that he used a racial slur during a 2017 practice. Swinney provided his side of the story, per ESPN's Andrea Adelson:

"I would fire a coach immediately if he called a player an N-word. No questions asked. That did not happen. Absolutely did not happen. It has not happened. Coach Pearman was correcting [D.J. Greenlee], and another player was talking to D.J., or D.J. was yelling at the player, and D.J. said something he probably shouldn't have said. He said, 'I blocked the wrong f---ing N-word,' and Coach Pearman thought he was saying it to him, and he's mad, and he reacted, and in correcting him, he repeated the phrase.

"And [Pearman] said, 'We don't say we blocked the wrong f---ing N-word.' And he repeated it. He shouldn't have done that. There's no excuse for even saying that. But there is a big difference. He did not call someone an N-word."

Greenlee said in a statement that he believed the incident "may not have been addressed properly with my teammates at the time."

Swinney also received criticism for wearing a "Football Matters" shirt, which some perceived to be making light of Black Lives Matter. ESPN's Max Kellerman (h/t Dean Straka of 247Sports) said that the shirt showed "a lack of understanding."

Swinney later released a video statement saying that his team would create positive change against racism, social injustice and brutality and expressed his support for Black Lives Matter:

The march comes amid a series of changes at the university, namely the Clemson Board of Trustees' decision to rename Calhoun Honors College to Clemson University Honors College.

The namesake was John C. Calhoun, a two-time vice president and congressman who owned slaves and called slavery a "positive good."

As for the march, it was clearly well-attended, per a picture from Connolly:

"An amazing scene at Clemson," Mark Packer of SiriusXM Radio wrote. "Huge, peaceful turnout on Bowman Field. The student athletes that created the grassroots unity march did an incredible job."

Three college athletes at Clemson University have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Two football players and one men's basketball player have contracted COVID-19, the school announced Friday. It conducted 169 tests for the virus on athletes on the football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams, as well as staff members who directly interact with those programs.

The school is not releasing the names of the students who tested positive.

Clemson required players who returned to campus to practice social distancing for two weeks before participating in the testing program, which began June 8.

The Tigers are preparing to begin voluntary workouts across multiple sports and are working to mitigate the risk involved with students practicing in larger groups.

Per Greg Hadley of The State, the school is only in Phase I of three for reopening, which includes limiting access to strength and conditioning activities, workouts of no more than 10 people—all wearing masks and standing six feet apart—unorganized individual access to outdoor facilities and the closing of team lounges.

Additionally, the school will clean and sanitize equipment at the start and end of each day as well as between each individual use.

In its statement announcing the test results, the Clemson athletic department explained the process for handling positive tests:

"When a student-athlete is diagnosed with COVID-19, DHEC [the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control] will be notified according to their guidelines as means to trace known contacts. Specific individuals will not be identified. [Clemson University Athletic Department] Sports Medicine will isolate the positive case and possible contacts. Individuals with symptoms and known exposure to a positive COVID-19 patient should self-quarantine or isolate and be further medically evaluated as soon as possible."

The NCAA is still on track to open the college football and basketball seasons without delay, though no decision has been made on if fans will be allowed to watch games in the stand or what the limits on maximum attendance will be.

Clemson's football season begins Sept. 3 against Georgia Tech. Fall sport athletes are expected to return to campus in mid-June.