Big 12 Football: 4 transfer landing spots for QB Caleb Williams

Clemson

One situation that could be rather similar to what LSU offers for Williams out of the transfer portal this offseason in terms of a looming quarterback battle is the Clemson Tigers. Head coach Dabo Swinney had his Clemson squad fall short of expectations in 2021. But that was largely thanks to an ever-stagnant offense that seemingly had trouble scoring more than a couple of touchdowns each game.

Clemson’s defense was still as dominant as ever this fall. And it really goes to show the bar that Swinney has set for this Clemson program in the fact that a double-digit win season is still something that falls dramatically short of expectations.

All told, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Clemson look in a different direction for help at the quarterback position this offseason. I would expect Clemson to potentially roll with either the incoming five-star 2022 quarterback signee and Austin native Cade Klubnik or a transfer portal addition next season.

Clemson had success starting a talented freshman quarterback before (just look at Trevor Lawrence). DJ Uiagalelei just wasn’t getting the job done for Clemson in 2021. He registered just nine passing touchdowns and nine interceptions in the season that was for the Tigers.

Clemson was one of the programs that recruited Williams pretty hard when he was coming out of high school during the 2020 cycle. And most of that Clemson coaching staff that recruited him out of high school remains in tact now. If Swinney and the Tigers are interested in legitimately going the transfer portal route to solve their quarterback issue, I would imagine they will sit right in the thick of the race to land a commitment from Williams.