Wednesday Update

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1. Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott told reporters Monday that he feels as if Clemson has six starter-quality receivers in his rotation.

As teams released depth charts for their first games this week, we found it interesting how a few former prominent Tigers targets haven’t met that standard at other schools.

In 2011, 6-4 four-star Ahmad Fulwood was the star of the Dabo Swinney Camp and looked like the next big-bodied standout in the wake of Alshon Jeffrey’s success.

That designation belongs to another competitor at that year’s camp: Mike Williams.

Fulwood enters his senior season as a second-teamer at Florida with 35 career catches for 387 yards and two score.

Coincidentally, former Mauldin (S.C.) quarterback Dre Massey will be a Florida starter at receiver in his first season out of junior college. We dubbed Massey a top-five in-state talent and four-star worthy prospect in 2014, and he has earned the chance to live up to it.

In this observer’s estimation, UNC is pretty weak at the receiver spot beyond Ryan Switzer and deep ball specialist Mack Hollins.

So it speaks volumes that redshirt freshman Juval Mollette is not among the six wideouts on the two-deep, which includes redshirt freshman Anthony Ratliff – a converted quarterback.

Who knows what Marquez North and Demarcus Robinson would have been had they picked Clemson. Each could have experienced the same issues that sidetracked his college career.

But it’s hard to ignore the Tigers’ track record for maximizing an abnormally large percentage of what they bring in.

That figures to bode well for intriguing freshman Cornell Powell as well as Clemson’s newest tall, developmental receiver, Diondre Overton.

Most indications give South Carolina the nod for Mount Pleasant (S.C.) Wando four-star OrTre Smith. But if the Gamecocks somehow lose at Vanderbilt on Thursday, it might give food for thought.

2. Clemson released its depth chart Tuesday for Saturday’s 9 p.m. game at Auburn, and predictably there were no major surprises – because even if there were some in store, coaches aren’t going to announce them this close to a game.

If anything, teams are in increasing competition to see how many guys can be listed as “or” candidates. Georgia, for example, seized the opportunity to list as many first-year freshmen as possible as perhaps a recruiting reference tool.

Too much is read into depth charts anyhow, so maybe we’re making something of nothing.

But the most interesting order in this observer’s mind came at backup free safety, where junior Korrin Wiggins was listed as the other second-string candidate after redshirt freshman Tanner Muse.

Seniority tends to matter to this staff, although sophomore Christian Wilkins was plugged in before junior Scott Pagano as co-starters at defensive tackle.

Yet given the returns for how Wiggins moderately progressed through August camp in his return from injury, we perhaps expected a little different depth chart promotion.

We’ll see how Wiggins factors into the rotation equation; will he revise his role as the nickel back in passing situations, or will defensive coordinator Brent Venables turn to veteran Ryan Carter as simply a third corner?

It tended to catch our eye this month, though, that Wiggins was one of the last to leave Clemson’s practice fields on a daily basis. He could always be seen working on his hand techniques against the hanging blocking bag as teammates headed for the exits. Doesn’t mean he’s the optimum player to put on the field yet, mind you. But it doesn’t appear work ethic is the hindrance.