THE WEST ZONE message board | SHOP NOW: DEALS on CLEMSON apparel

It's been amusing to hear Clemson's offseason detractors cite the narrow margin of last year's win at Texas A&M as some sort of knock on the Tigers' worthiness as a dominant 15-0 national champion.

Anyone think that result might've been, oh, a bit more decisive had the game occurred during money time in November, December and January?

Most folks know Trevor Lawrence had yet to win the starting job and was still sort of getting comfortable in the second game of his college career.

Fewer casual observers know that Justyn Ross played a grand total of one snap in that game. So not only was the star quarterback not what he would become, but the receiver who terrorized Alabama and Notre Dame was still in his formative stages too.

We say all this to bring the conversation back to Joseph Ngata and what he might be capable of at the start of the season.