Never have college football teams had more pressure to play their first-year freshmen.

Perhaps never during the Dabo Swinney era will Clemson rely less on this incoming class of newcomers.

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Quite the paradox. But we've also contended the Tigers were countercultural.

Clemson kicks off preseason camp next week, and our eyes traditionally focus right out of the gate on the new toys at the team's disposal -- the freshmen.

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More than half (11) of the Tigers' 20 signees were summer enrollees who have yet to take the field for a fully padded practice. So there is some semblance of mystery and intrigue to who might emerge and whether any of the newcomers will exceed initial expectation.