CLEMSON COUNTDOWN: An early preview of the Tiger team FSU will face on Labor Day

Seven months to go and a lots of questions to be answered before FSU and Clemson tee it up on September 3rd. For the early 4-1-1 on the Tigers, we quizzed the guys at Danny Ford is God, a CU site that's feisty and fun. Here's the way two orange and purple bleeding Tiger faithful see their team shaping up.

ChantRant: With your only experienced QB, Will Proctor, graduating, who'll be under center?
DFIG:  Right now, the QB depth chart is set at Cullen Harper then Tribble Reese with Michael Wade inches behind him.  Lastly, freshman QB Willy Korn (pictured below) is set as fourth on the depth chart.  Come spring practice however, a lot could be changed around. Korn is already enrolled, taking classes, and working out with the team.  His high school ran the same offense so come Labor Day, he could have a real good chance at starting. 

Korn, a 6'2" native of Lyman, SC, is the #1 dual-threat quarterback in the nation according to Rivals.com. He was also the Gatorade Player-of-the-Year in South Carolina as a junior and senior. He threw for 10,716 yards and 125 touchdowns in his career in leading James F. Byrnes High to two state championships. A five-star prospect by Scout.com, Korn also holds the state single-season record for passing yards (4,164), completions (281), and touchdown passes (53), numbers he established in 2005. He played in the 2007 US Army High School All-American game for the East team in San Antonio, TX earlier in January.

ChantRant: Is Jacoby Ford the go-to guy this year?
DFIG: Jacoby Ford (pictured at right), in terms of special teams, will be the go to guy along with running back CJ Spiller, if Spiller does indeed stick around. In his wide receiver role, yes, he's a guy that needs to step up. More importantly, receivers Aaron Kelly and Rendrick Taylor need to step up the most. Kelly is more of a jump ball guy that reminds me of a Kevin Youngblood or Derrick Hamilton, if you remember those guys from the 2003 game in Death Valley. Although he's a tough guy, one tough shot can get him rattled and he stops becoming a presence. Taylor constantly battles injuries because he is a beast and puts it all out there. He's a little creaky on the mechanics, kinda looks like a bull in a china shop when he runs routes, but he makes up for it with size, strength, and catching ability. Kelly and Taylor need to step up more than Ford does. We'd say that as of right now, Tyler Grisham is our best all around wide receiver.

ChantRant: Will Clemson rely heavily on the running of Siller & James, especially the first game?
DFIG: Yes, expect screens, screens, and more screens. Any kind of screen you can think of, Spence (Off. Coordinator) is going to use it. Probably involving Spiller because he's shiftier. Also, look to see Spence to continue to run it like last year. With the line we have this year though, don't know if we'll be able to run it as well. They are supposed to be way more talented than the '06 line was this time last year, but they are largely unproven. We're also interested to see what Ray Ray McElratheby can do now that he's been moved to third string running back. Look for more fullback hand-offs in short yardage situations.

ChantRant: After losing four our of five OL starters, will guys with some experience be taking their place?
DFIG: As we said before, they're supposed to be better than last year's line, but they haven't played against good talent for the most part.

ChantRant: How good will the defense be after key losses like
sack artist Gaines Adams?
DFIG: With Ron West (LB coach who took a job on the West Virginia staff then decided to stay) not going anywhere, the only trouble we is at cornerback. Our D-line, although we lost Gaines, is teeming with talent. Clemson returned both safeties who were pretty good and held their own against some good teams. They rarely gave up a deep ball. We feel good about the linebacking core because Clemson has been known to churn out linebackers. They did just fine without Anthony Waters last year. CU returned pretty much the same guys in that group and returning in the LB department is Tramaine Billie. He got hurt before the season started last year and used a redshirt year. Before he got hurt he was running a sub 4.4 forty yard dash. The only big question is just that... A BIG DAMNED QUESTION MARK. We lose Duane Coleman, who was clutch and crucial, to graduation and we lost CJ Gaddis, who was a really hard hitter, to the draft. CJ wasn't as good as he thought he was because he had a ton of blown assignments at times he needed to keep cool. We look for at least Crezdon Butler to step up. Maybe Chris Chancellor on the other side. Tommy Bowden needs to hire a new defensive backs coach... or at least do something better in that department.