Clemson Football 2016 regular season awards

With Clemson’s post season about to begin, we wanted to give out our 2016 regular season awards. Clemson has had a nearly perfect season. The Tigers have experienced highs (Louisville) and lows (Pittsburgh) en route to an 11-1 regular season.

Clemson has a chance to reach their second consecutive College Football Playoff with a victory over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship. With another National Championship in reach, the Tigers cannot afford to lose focus now. Virginia Tech is known to be a tough out in ACC Championship games.

Without further ado, here’s our Clemson football 2016 regular season awards.

Most improved: Jadar Johnson

Jadar Johnson has been the most pleasant surprise of this 2016 season. The talent has always been there, however, Johnson had to bide his time behind guys like Jayron Kearse and T.J. Green.

In his first three season’s combined Jadar Johnson recorded 36 total tackles and 4 interceptions. In this season alone, Johnson has recorded 43 total tackles and a team leading 5 interceptions. Jadar has been a vocal leader for the Tigers this season. When asked about facing Lamar Jackson earlier in the season, Johnson responded “I don’t really feel like we have to step out of our element or you know jump up another notch to really stop him, I feel like we have the tools and we have the skill set to limit him and I don’t really see no worries with him.”

Johnson has earned the respect of his coaches with his play this season.

I’m not sure where Jadar Johnson will be drafted, but, in my opinion he has played himself into a

draft-able position. Johnson has added his name to the long list of tremendous senior seasons at Clemson.

Newcomer of the year: Dexter Lawrence

A native of Wake Forest, North Carolina, Lawrence is downright massive standing 6’5, 340 pounds. This award should come as a surprise, in fact we named Dexter Lawrence our freshman of the year a few weeks back.

Dexter Lawrence has had one of the most disruptive season’s for a freshman defensive lineman in recent history. Fellow defensive lineman, Christian Wilkins had a terrific freshman campaign a season ago, however, Lawrence has simply out done Wilkins this season. Big Dex has recorded 54 total tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and 2 blocked kicks.

Lawrence has helped bolster a Clemson defensive line that is allowing just 127.75 rushing yards per game. Thanks to Lawrence eating up double teams, Clemson’s pass rush has been menacing once again, the Tigers have recorded 42 sacks on the season. Dexter’s efforts were recognized by the rest of the conference as he was named the ACC’s defensive freshman of the year.

Buffalo Bill’s head coach, Rex Ryan has even taken notice of the young behemoth.

Dexter’s blend of size and speed has been put to use on offense this season as well. Clemson has a jumbo (though even that word may not do the package justice) package, which feature’s defensive tackles, Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence.

Comeback of the year: Mike Williams

Mike Williams suffered a scary neck injury in the season opener against Wofford last season. Williams caught a touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson, but, as he was coming down he ran into the goal post eventually diagnosed as a fracture in his neck.

Williams has been spectacular in his return to the field this season. The senior wide-out leads the Tigers with 79 receptions for 1,114 yards and 10 touchdowns. If there was any doubt about Williams’ ability to return to football they have been all but wiped out.

Clemson head coach, Dabo Swinney was very complementary of Mike Williams

Mike Williams is garnering comparisons to former Pittsburgh Steelers great, Plaxico Burress. Williams has the size at 6’3, 225 pounds to overwhelm smaller defensive backs. Williams’ best attribute is his ability to high point the football in jump ball situations.

I have already stated my belief that Mike Williams should win the Biletnikoff trophy presented to the nations best wide receiver. He has produced at the highest level in Clemson’s biggest games. Even in a loss to Pitt, Williams recorded 15 catches for 202 yards and 1 touchdown.

Most Valuable Player: Deshaun Watson

There were some other Tigers who were vital to Clemson’s success this season, such as Ben Bouleware and Christian Wilkins, however Deshaun Watson’s importance to the team was too much to overcome.

Deshaun has completed 306 of his 453 passing attempts for 3,626 yards and 34 touchdowns, he has also ran for 444 yards and 4 touchdowns. Watson is the best quarterback to ever play at Clemson in my opinion, he is only the third player in the history of the ACC to account for 100 touchdowns.

Although Deshaun Watson has been inconsistent at times this season, when it mattered most he has come up big. Against Florida State, down 34-29 with 3:16 left in the game, Watson drove the Tigers down the field to throw the go-ahead touchdown to Jordan Leggett. Against Louisville, Clemson found themselves down 36-28 coming off of a Deshaun Watson interception. Rather than dwell on his mistake Deshaun drove the Tigers down the field to score in two plays. With the score 36-34 Louisville, Clemson got the ball back on their fifteen yard line following a Cardinals three and out. Despite this bad field position, Watson drove the Tigers 85 yards in eight plays to put the Tigers up 42-36.

This Clemson team is full of talent, however, Deshaun Watson is the difference maker. If Clemson is to win a national championship, it will be due in large part to the play of Deshaun Watson.

Other awards:

Mr. Reliable: Marcus Edmond. The junior defensive back may not be the most high-profile Clemson player, however, he is always there when the Tigers need him. Edmond is consistently making winning plays whether it be the game saving interception against N.C. State or the drive ending tackle against Louisville.

Unsung Hero: Wayne Gallman. With all of the firepower that Clemson has offensively, Wayne Gallman’s contributions go overlooked at times. Gallman is vital to the Tigers success on offense. When Clemson can run the football with Wayne they are nearly impossible to stop. Gallman is also great in pass protection.

Defensive player of the year: Ben Bouleware, the general of Clemson’s defense, has been a tackling machine all year. Bouleware leads the team with 95 total tackles, 44 of which are solo.

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