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CLEMSON –- A year ago at this time, no one had any idea just how tough of a journey Clemson faced in its pursuit of a national title.

Knocking off mighty Alabama in the final game shook off any second-guessing of the Tigers in and of itself. But the entire 2016 schedule was positively brutal by any measure, featuring nine opponents that won eight or more games.

And those opponents featured a long list of elite players, from Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams at Auburn in the opener to Lamar Jackson, Dalvin Cook, James Conner, Malik Hooker, Reuben Foster and plenty others who struck fear into the hearts of Clemson and everyone else they faced.

Looking to 2017, Clemson doesn’t have to worry about some of those game-changing players. The Tigers are thankful they don’t have to deal with Lawson in Game 2 at Death Valley, or Louisville defensive tackle DeAngelo Brown, or Cook.

But there are plenty of players who will be worthy of the Tigers’ attention as they attempt to maintain the elite level of play they’ve put forth the past two seasons while amassing a 28-2 record and two trips to the national title game.

Here, we rank the five most dangerous players on Clemson’s schedule: