Loaded Clemson doesn’t even need Trevor Lawrence to win a weak ACC

Trevor Lawrence is the projected No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and a Heisman favorite, could Clemson make the College Football Playoff without him?

Clemson is so good that Dabo Swinney‘s team can win the ACC and make the College Football Playoff without Heisman favorite and projected No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Trevor Lawrence.

They’re that loaded and the ACC is that bad.

I’m not trying to replace Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless in the hot take department. This isn’t even a warm take. This is lukewarm at best. It’s basically a room temperature take. I’m not going out on a limb or anything. This isn’t some bold prediction I’m making in an effort to get ratioed on Twitter for an unpopular opinion. This is a straight-up fact.

Clemson is so good on both sides of the ball, they could literally win every game this year without playing the best player in the sport.

This is like the Chicago Bulls winning the NBA championship without Michael Jordan because Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant or Dennis Rodman and the supporting cast was better than the best the league could offer.

Let me break it down for you.

For starters, D.J. Uiagalelei is replacing Lawrence and was the No. 1 pro-style quarterback recruit who enrolled early and was able to practice with the team during the College Football Playoff last year.

The 6-foot-4.5, 245-pounder has a stronger arm than Lawrence does now. That’s no hyperbole. That’s a testament to his talent and how ridiculous the quarterback room is at Clemson.

Uigalelei helped lead St. John Bosco to a California state title and beat No. 2 overall recruit and Alabama signee Bryce Young along the way in an epic semifinal showdown. The two could see their high school rivalry carry into college football just as it looks like it will for Lawrence and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.

If Uigalalei had to start for Clemson, he would have total command of the offense and be capable of leading the Tigers offense. It’ll help to have future first round pick Justyn Ross out wide to have as his top receiver.

Uigalelei wouldn’t need to do a Trevor Lawrence impersonation as a freshman for Clemson to reach the playoff. He’d be more than along for the ride but he’d be allowed to let senior running back Travis Etienne drive the car.

It was one of the biggest NFL Draft decisions when Etienne decided to bypass the draft and return to Clemson for his senior year. He’ll leave Clemson with all meaningful rushing records as well as many of the ACC records too. He’s most concerned about winning another ring.

Etienne is a potential first round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and could be the first back taken. In college football, he could be a top-five player in the sport at any position. After back-to-back 1,600 yard rushing seasons, Etienne could easily challenge for 2,000 yards in this hypothetical world.

Uigalelei and Etienne might be the best duo in the ACC this year if not for Lawrence’s real-life presence.

With all due respect to North Carolina head coach Mack Brown, Swinney is clearly the top coach in the ACC. He has the best roster and the best players and arguably the top assistant in Brent Venables running the defense, but Phil Jackson won 11 rings coaching Jordan, Pippen, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

Great coaches coach great players. Not all great players can overcome adequate coaching.

North Carolina came close to upsetting Clemson in Chapel Hill last year before falling short on a game-winning two-point conversion try. That was a confluence of events of Lawrence playing like a high school freshman and Brown getting his team convinced they could hang with Clemson in their place. The stadium had a strange feeling that afternoon and the upset almost happened.

Close doesn’t get you anything in college football.

The toughest game on the Clemson football schedule wouldn’t be a road game in Tallahassee vs. Florida State, but a road date in South Bend vs. North Dame. The Fighting Irish might be a top-10 team when they meet and have a senior quarterback in Ian Book who helped lead the team to the playoff vs. Clemson two years ago.

Of course, it didn’t end well for Book or the Irish that night.

I wouldn’t expect it would any better for this time around even if Uigalalei was the quarterback. Swinney has Brian Kelly’s number and Clemson just has so many better players.

I’ve mentioned Uigalaleli’s name a dozen times and fawned over his potential but he wasn’t even Clemson’s best recruit last year. Or even the second-best. They were No. 1 recruit Bryan Bresee and No. 7 recruit Myles Murphy.

Bresee is a 6-foot-5, 290-pound defensive tackle who looks like he’ll be a three-year starter and two-time team captain. Murphy is a 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive end who may be lining up next to Bresee for the next three years. Maybe I can talk myself into whether Clemson’s freshmen could still win the ACC? Why just stop at winning the ACC without Lawrence? The Clemson football machine hasn’t even peaked yet which is exciting for Tigers fans and what the rest of the ACC worries about all day.

In other words, Clemson has a ridiculous amount of talent on the roster. Even the players who haven’t played a college football game have more potential than most players in the ACC outside of UNC quarterback Sam Howell.

It may sound crazy at first, but yes, Clemson would win the ACC without Lawrence. They would make the College Football Playoff without the best player in the nation. I’ll stop short of saying they’d win the National Championship Game without Lawrence if they met Ohio State because Fields is a superb talent.

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