This year's Clemson offense could be the best in school history

Published May. 12, 2015 1:05 p.m. ET

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With the return of a healthy Deshaun Watson, as well as superstar wide receivers Mike Williams and Artavis Scott, this year’s edition of the Clemson offense has the potential to be the best in Tigers history.

"We have a chance to be good offensively. Is it the best? I don’t know," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told ESPN. "We’ve got good backs, we’ve got good tight ends, we’ve got good receivers, we’ve got a good quarterback, we’ve got good depth up front on the offensive line.

“We have the makings of a good offense. Potential is one thing. Performance is another. We have to go perform.”

When Watson is healthy, there is no doubt he can perform. As a freshman, the 6-2, 205-pounder suffered a variety of injuries that included a torn ACL and a collarbone injury, which limited him to five starts in eight games. Watson ended the season throwing for 1,466 yards and eight touchdowns.

If Watson can stay off the sidelines in 2015, he could be the engine that allows the Clemson offense to race up the record books, past the 2012 Tajh Boyd-led Tigers that racked up a school-record 512.7 yards per game with the help of future NFL draft picks Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Ellington.

Watson has an excellent pair of targets in Williams and Scott, which makes double-covering one or the other extremely challenging for defenses.

In 2014, the 6-4, 210-pound Williams caught 57 passes for 1,030 yards and six TDs, while the 5-10, 190-pound Scott pulled in 76 passes for 965 yards and eight scores.

Those numbers are expected to improve for both receivers due to their added experience and what Clemson hopes will be stability at the quarterback position.

The effect of the Tigers receiving duo should be magnified thanks to Clemson’s talented stable of running backs, which includes the return of leading rusher Wayne Gallman (769 yards).

"I like the ingredients we have. It starts with having the right type of ingredients,” Swinney said. “I think we have the ingredients to make something great, but we’ve got to put it all together and you’ve got to turn that potential into performance."

(h/t ESPN)