Through the years, Clemson has had some dynamic players who have gone on to not only have great success as a Tiger, but also in the NFL.

From Benning Cunningham to Steve Fuller and Jerry Butler in the 1970s to C.J. Spiller, Sammy Watkins and Deshaun Watson in the late 2000s through the present day. Clemson has had some phenomenal offensive talent play in Death Valley.

Below is a list of some of the best offensive players in school history (in chronological order).

Banks McFadden, B-Back, 1937-’39: McFadden is still Clemson’s only All-American in two different sports. He was considered the nation’s most versatile athlete in 1939. Besides being an All-American on the basketball court, he was a First-Team All-American in 1939 on the football field as well, while leading Clemson to its first bowl game … the 1940 Cotton Bowl. Clemson beat Boston College that afternoon by a score of 6-3. McFadden would be considered a quarterback in this day and age of the game, as he threw for 581 yards in 1939 and rushed for 469 yards. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry in 1939. He was also an outstanding punter for the Tigers. McFadden was an outstanding track athlete and is still considered the greatest overall athlete in Clemson history. His No. 66 was retired, and he was a first-round draft pick of the Dodgers in the 1940 NFL Draft.

Bennie Cunningham, TE, 1972-’75: Before coming a two-time Super Bowl Champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cunningham was Clemson’s first 2-time All-American in 1974 and ’75, as well as the Tigers’ first consensus All-American in 1974. At 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, Cunningham was ahead of his time for a tight end, as he used his size and speed to become one of the greatest tight ends in ACC history. He caught 64 passes for 1,044 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career, all Clemson records for a tight end at the time. Cunningham was a first-round selection by the Steelers in the 1976 NFL Draft.

Jerry Butler, WR, 1975-’78: Before there was Nuk and Sammy or even Perry Tuttle, Jerry Butler set the bar at Wide Receiver University. Butler set all the records during his Clemson career, and though they did not throw the football nearly as much in the late 1970s as they do now, Butler made the most of his opportunities when he got the chance. A 2-time All-ACC performer in 1977 and ’78, Butler became one of the nation’s best receivers. The First-Team All-American in 1978, caught 58 passes for 908 yards and scored three touchdowns. He also caught 47 passes for 824 yards and four touchdowns in 1977. He is still known by Clemson fans for his leaping-twisting catch of a Steve Fuller pass to beat South Carolina in the 1977 game in Columbia. The play is known simply as “The Catch.” Butler was a first-round draft by the Buffalo Bills in the 1979 NFL Draft.

Steve Fuller, QB, 1975-’78: Fuller not only started the Tigers on one of the greatest eras in the program’s history in 1977 and ’78, but he was one of the greatest offensive players the school had ever seen. Fuller is the last Clemson player to win the ACC Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons. He revitalized the program in 1977 while leading Clemson to an 8-3-1 record and then in 1978 he led the Tigers to an 11-1 mark, which included an ACC Championship and a No. 6 final national ranking, the highest ever for the program at the time. On the field he was a dual-threat quarterback who earned All-American honors in 1978 and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy race. Fuller’s No. 4 was retired. He was a first-round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1979 NFL Draft.

Perry Tuttle, WR, 1978-’81: Tuttle was Clemson’s star player on offense during its run to the national championship in 1981. He is the first Clemson player, in any sport, to make the cover of Sports Illustrated when his iconic photo following a touchdown in the 1982 Orange Bowl graced the cover of the magazine the following Thursday after the Tigers’ clinched their first national championship. Tuttle was a First-Team All-American in 1981, after he led the ACC with 52 receptions for 833 yards and scored a then-single season record 8 touchdowns. He had 915 receiving yards on 53 catches as a junior in 1980. Tuttle finished his Clemson career with a then record 150 catches for a then record 2,534 yards and a record 17 touchdowns. He is still considered one of the best receivers in Clemson history, especially considering the numbers he put up when Clemson did not throw the ball very much. He was a first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in the 1982 NFL Draft.

Terrence Flagler, RB, 1982-’86: Flagler busted onto the scene in 1986 following an injury to Clemson’s Heisman Trophy candidate running back Kenny Flowers. After Flowers went down with an injury in Week 2 at Georgia, Flagler took over and had an All-American season for Clemson. Flagler was C.J. Spiller before there was C.J. Spiller. A First-Team All-American, Flagler set a then single-season record at Clemson with 1,258 rushing yards. He also scored 10 touchdowns on the ground and had another three through the air. He had a then single-game record 274 all-purpose yards and 4 touchdowns against Wake Forest in 1986. That afternoon, he rushed for 209 yards and had 65 receiving yards as well. He also rushed for 210 yards that season against Virginia. He led Clemson to the 1986 ACC Championship and a Gator Bowl win over Stanford. He was the first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1987 NFL Draft.

Rod Gardner, WR, 1997-2000: Gardner was a First-Team All-American in 2000, but before that he became the first Clemson wide receiver in history to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He did it twice in 1999 (1,084 yards) and in 2000 (1,050 yards). Gardner finished his Clemson career with 166 receptions for 2,498 yards and 13 touchdowns. He is best remembered for his 50-yard catch against South Carolina in the 2000 game which set up the game-winning field goal in the final seconds. It is known as “Catch II.” Gardner was a first-round selection of the Washington Redskins in 2001.

Woodrow Dantzler, QB, 1998-2001: Dantzler is the only player on this list not to earn All-American honors, but he should have. He was the first quarterback in Division I history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season, which he officially did in 2001. He also did it in 2000, but he went over 1,000 yards rushing in the bowl game, which the NCAA did not officially keep records of at the time. A Heisman Trophy candidate during his career, Dantzler set all sorts of Clemson records for a single-game, season and career. He is best remembered for his back-to-back games in 2001 against Georgia Tech and NC State. He had over 400 total yards in a win at Georgia Tech when he threw for more than 250 yards and rushed for 180, while scoring the game-winning touchdown in overtime. The next week, he totaled a then Clemson record 517 yards, breaking his own record from the previous week, in a win over NC State. He also had six total touchdowns in the game, while rushing for 184 yards and throwing for 333.

C.J. Spiller, RB, 2006-’09: Spiller is still considered the greatest overall player in Clemson history. His 7,588 all-purpose yards is the most in ACC history and is second best in the NCAA. He rushed for 3,547 yards in his Clemson career, while also receiving 1,420 more yards. He also had 569 punt return yards and 2,052 kick return yards. Spiller’s 8 touchdown returns on punts and kickoffs is still an NCAA record, while his 4 kickoff returns for touchdowns in one season (2009) is still a single-season best in the ACC and the NCAA. His 7-career kickoff returns for touchdowns is still an NCAA record for a career. Spiller was a unanimous First-Team All-American in 2009. He was also the ACC Player of the Year that season and earned ACC Championship Game MVP honors. He rushed for 1,212 yards and had 2,680 all-purpose yards and scored 21 touchdowns in 2009. He finished No. 6 in the Heisman Trophy race, tying Fuller for the best finish in school history at the time. Spiller scored a Clemson record 51 touchdowns in his career. His No. 28 was retired. He was a first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Dwayne Allen, TE, 2009-’11: Allen is a great example of how being patient and waiting your turn can pay off. After learning to play behind 2-time All-ACC tight end Michael Palmer, Allen got his shot to show what he can do in 2010 and became perhaps the greatest tight end Clemson has ever had. Allen broke all of Cunningham’s single-season and career records while becoming a 2-time All-ACC Player as well as a consensus All-American in 2011. In 2011, he caught what is still a Clemson record 50 passes for a tight end for 598 yards and a school-record 8 touchdowns for a single-season. Allen won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end that year. He finished his career with a school-record 93 catches for 1,079 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Tajh Boyd, QB, 2010-’13: Boyd destroyed all of Clemson’s passing records in his four years at Clemson, while kick starting the greatest run in Clemson history. A 3-time All-ACC Player, Boyd led the Tigers to their first ACC Championship in 20 years in 2011, while also earning ACC Championship Game MVP honors. He was 32-8 as starting quarterback in his career as well as the 2012 ACC Player of the Year, the first Clemson quarterback to do so since Fuller in 1978. Boyd was also the first Clemson quarterback in history to earn First-Team All-American honors. On the field, he finished second in ACC history with 11,904 passing yards (still a Clemson record) and set a new ACC record with 107 touchdown passes. He also ran for 26 touchdowns, making his 133 total touchdowns an ACC record for a career as well. Boyd had perhaps the greatest game in ACC history in 2012, when he totaled an ACC-record 8 touchdowns while throwing for 426 yards and 5 touchdowns and rushing for 103 yards and 3 touchdowns in a win over NC State. His 529 total yards that afternoon was a Clemson record for a single game at the time.

Deandre (Nuk) Hopkins, WR, 2010-’12: Without a doubt Hopkins is one of the greatest receivers in Clemson history. An All-American in 2012, Hopkins became the first of many great receivers in the Dabo Swinney era. He set the freshman record for catches (52) and yards (637) in a season by a Clemson receiver in 2010. He followed that up with another 72 catches for 978 yards in 2011 and then 82 catches for a school record 1,405 yards in 2012, including a school-record 18 receiving touchdowns. He finished his career with a then school-record 206 career receptions for a then record 3,020 yards and a record 27 touchdowns. Hopkins is best known for his sliding 26-yard reception on fourth-and-16 on the game-winning drive against LSU in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl. Hopkins was a first-round selection of the Houston Texans in the 2013 NFL Draft.

Sammy Watkins, WR, 2011-’13: Watkins became Clemson’s first three-time First-Team All-American during his career. He also finished as the record holder in just about every receiving category there is. He holds the Clemson records for a game, single-season and career in just about every category. Watkins set the freshman record and single-season mark for receiving yards (1,219), catches (82) and touchdowns (12) in 2011. He then broke Hopkins’ 2012 marks with 101 catches for 1,464 yards in 2013, while scoring 12 more touchdowns. His 27 career-touchdown receptions tied Hopkins for the most in a Clemson career, while his 3,391 yards and 240 catches are both Clemson records for a career. Watkins was a first-round selection of the Buffalo Bills in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Deshaun Watson, QB, 2014-’16: In just three years, Watson became the greatest quarterback Clemson had ever seen. He was the ACC Player of the Year in 2015 and finished as a finalist in the Heisman Trophy race in 2015 and ’16. He holds several game, season and career records at Clemson. He threw for a record 580 yards against Pittsburgh in 2016. His 588 total yards that afternoon is also a Clemson record. He is the first 2-time All-American quarterback in Clemson history as he took the Tigers to the national championship game in 2015 and 2016, including winning it all in 2016. He was the MVP of the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, while also earning MVP honors in the 2015 and 2016 ACC Championship Games. He was 32-3 as a starting quarterback in his Clemson career, while throwing for 10,163 yards. He also threw 90 touchdowns and ran for another 26. His 4,593 yards in 2016 broke his own passing record of 4,104 yards in 2015. His 41 touchdown passes in 2016 is a Clemson and ACC record, as is his 50 total touchdowns that season. In 2015 and 2016, Watson won both the Davey O’Brien and Manning Awards and the nation’s best quarterbacks. He also won the Johnny Unitas Award in 2016. Watson completed 67.4 percent of his passes in his Clemson career, which is the current career record. He was a first-round pick of the Houston Texans in the 2017 NFL Draft.