The Tigers took a injury blow earlier this week when Martavis Bryant suffered a groin injury that will keep him sidelined for the Boston College and Georgia Tech games.
Bryant is a player with instant big-play potential, and with Clemson's defense struggling, the Tigers need all the firepower they can get right now.
But in terms of game-planning and preparation, Bryant's loss will have less impact.
Bryant, who was considered to be an elite player when he was recruited, first out of tiny Calhoun Falls, S.C. and then at T.L. Hanna High in Anderson, has not yet proven himself to be a reliable, consistent, mainstay player on the college field.
He has two catches this season, both for touchdowns.
It's hard to figure.
He's Aaron Kelly-big, Sammy Watkins-fast, and has made enough tough, in-traffic catches to make you think he's a special player waiting to happen.
And it well may happen yet. Some players bloom later than others.
But when the Tigers lined up for their biggest game of the season last Saturday, the coaches chose to have Bryant on the field for a grand total of 10 plays.
And that was while Sammy Watkins and Nuk Hopkins were getting battered, physically, by FSU's press-man, and could surely have used a play or two on the sidelines to collect their thoughts.
Charone Peake got 14 snaps, and Adam Humphries 16.
One of the reasons I pick through the participation chart each week for our 'Who Got The Snaps' feature is that there's nothing I've found that reveals more about what the coaches are really thinking in terms of their personnel and depth.
Who do they trust, in big game situations, to be on the field?
When Bryant plays 10 snaps, it tells us something. When Vic Beasley gets only seven plays and Corico Wright plays two snaps from scrimmage, that says more than anything that comes out of Monday and Tuesday's well-managed coach and player interviews.
The raw numbers, of course, deserve follow-up questions. There are lots of factors - from opposing schemes, to in-game injuries, to particular match-up problems - that may dictate more or less playing time for particular players in the course of a game.
But week-in and week-out, the participation chart is a good place to start in figuring out what the real depth chart looks like.
ACC: Durham Bulls Athletic Park
G1: ACC Tournament Pregame
ACC: NC State 6, Clemson 3
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 5
ashleycooper writes:
Where can we find the participation chart for last week's game?
KerryCapps writes:
It's part of the 'Cumulative Stats' PDF that's posted on the football page of the Clemson official website...The full stats package is usually available on their website by Wednesday...We run our 'Who Got The Snaps' feature on either Tuesday or Wednesday each week, depending on when we get the participation chart (which is based on coaches' film breakdown and not press box game stats, thus the delay).
4everAFanGOTIGERS writes:
" Aaron Kelly-big... Sammy Watkins-fast".. in describing Martavis Bryant .. and Charone Peake is jus as fast .. maybe a lil smaller but bigger the sammy and nuke n still doesnt get on the field .. the fsu game prove a lot .. nuke and sammy where able to beat the press coverage but where blanketed by an over-the-top safety help all game .. they didnt respect 16 enough as the put linebackers 1-on-1 coverage on him??? never seen him separate from anybody expect against ball state n furman ... i can get a play or two or give somebody a breather but there no way he shud see the field more then bryant and peake ..bottom line... i jus hope neither transfer due to lack of play time.. i dont care how much he gives in practice or how hard he works becuz in the end GOD-GIVIN ability trumphs work ethic ... i mean really ... Dabo was raving about Peake all summer to only let him really see the field becuz of sammy's suspension ??? so wat was the point if u not gone to the man see the field .. even 87 is seein the field ... to me wit wat happened at fsu .. u gotta put ur horses out there.. no lunch pale guys or " high motor " guys or hard workers ... we need for the talent to get on the field no matter wat .. Dats the problem that has kill us for years ... letting the talent sit on the sideline becuz of inexperience ...i wud rather guys learn on the fly then waste time with veterans or plays who dont have a high ceiling and arent going to get any better than they already R!!!!!.. come on coaches... enuff is enuff.. i mean see wat they did with nuke his freshman year.. waited til like the fourth or fifth game til the realize he was the best receiver we had and had to b on the field .. but by that time we 2-3 0r 2-4 ... they did get it rite wit sammy !!! give credit for that but thats only becuz who did we have ..... jaron brown reminds me of jason avant .. somebody who wud move the chains or get a first down but dats it ... when we go five wid then yea but bryant and peake shud start over him.... Im sorry my fellow die-hard fans .. but chad morris promise us more vertical attacks against the defense more explosive plays but all i've seen r screen plays .. tricks plays .. n we go deep he has the wrong personnel in ... like goin back to the fsu game or any game for that matter .. why wudnt go deep with two 6'3 or better sized receivers wit one running a 4.2(peake)..n the other 4.3-4.4.(bryant).. . but u have 5'11 humphries runnin a 4.5-4.6 and brown runnin 6'2 4.6??????? and against corners who 5'10 (waisome) ...5'11(darby)..6'1(rhodes)... ??? .. jimbo took great advantage of his with smith 6'4 and benjamin 6'6.. against a 5'11 darius robinson.. I just dont get it man ...smh
waran writes:
Has Sammy's role in our team changed significantly this year as compared to last year because Andre does not have a good back-up? I have not seen Sammy being used as a vertical threat that much this year. I do agree that we need to use more players and give them the experience. Our O and D lines looked very exhausted by the end of the FL State game. But I am not the coach!!!
Lynx26 writes:
Woooooh! my dogg spittin straight facts! So very true... we gotta do something to seperate ourselves from the pack- while catching up to the elites!
Theres no reason why we couldn't have spread FLA st. out last week and run crossing, deep, slants, skinny posts to beat press coverage.
Ima be hurt if either of the 2 transfer.. I really dont think Humphries should be the #2 behind Sammy. Yeah hes quick and for sure hands- coaches player. but really??? They dont respect my dogg yet.
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