| 1. Clemson Tigers |
| #1 in ACC |
Alabama has bullied teams around teams for a decade in the trenches. While Clemson went toe to toe with them thanks to a superstar quarterback, the Tigers now possess the ability to surpass anyone in trench play this year. Clemson had six of the nine first team all-ACC linemen last year. Five of them return. That kind of combination of talent and experience on both lines means Clemson can cover for off days at the skill positions and the secondary. Kelly Bryant looked good enough, when healthy, trying to DeShaun Watson, but he wasn't the special player back there that Watson was. The margin for error also isn't large with true freshman Trevor Lawrence breathing down his neck. Lawrence was not only the #1 rated quarterback in the 2018 class, but the #1 overall prospect. Lest you think he's all hype, he showed enough in the spring that sophomore Hunter Johnson, who was the #2 quarterback recruit in the class JUST LAST YEAR, up and transferred during the spring to Northwestern, rather than spend the duration of his career as Lawrence's backup. Bryant should be able to lean heavily on the run game behind that dominant offensive line. The Tigers' return their top three rushers from a season ago, led by Travis Etienne who was fantastic as a true freshman. The issue was that he put up big numbers against overmatched opponents, but disappeared in bigger games. IN seven games against ranked teams (plus South Carolina) he averaged 33.6 ypg, in the other seven games he averaged 75.6 ypg. He needs to be more consistent because aside from Hunter Renfrow, the receiving group is very inexperienced. The defense looks to be all kinds of nasty. As mentioned earlier, the Tigers had three linemen who were expected to declare for the NFL Draft, and all three return, joined by 2nd team All-ACC Austin Bryant. All that means is what still would have been a very good defensive line, is now Clemson's second unit, is an insane wealth of depth. To top it off, they added the #1 and #3 defensive end recruits in the nation. The weakest link is the secondary, which should be ok if they stay healthy, which they didn't last year. Due to those injuries in 2017, even with two new starters, the starting four should be ok. Depth will be a bit of an issue, but that is nitpicking for a defense that finished on top of the ACC in every statistical category, and was top 4 nationally in scoring, passing and total defense. The offense, which sunk to the middle of the ACC, is what determines if Clemson can win their second national championship in three years, or just "merely" make its fourth consecutive College Football Playoff appearance.
Key Players| RB | | Travis Etienne, Sophomore |
| WR | | Hunter Renfrow, Senior |
| T | | Mitch Hyatt, Senior |
| . | |
| DE | | Clelin Ferrell, Junior |
| DT | | Christian Wilkins, Senior |
| DT | | Dexter Lawrence, Junior |
