CLEMSON – The wide receiver carousel is in full force for the Clemson Tigers, and there’s one player everyone’s waiting to see break out. It started with the season-ending injury to Cole Turner, which forced Tyler Grisham to really find out what the rest of the unit is made of.

If that wasn’t enough, 2022’s leading receiver Antonio Williams was out three straight weeks with an ankle injury and now he’s out for at least another game with a toe issue. In these absences, we’ve seen Tyler Brown and Trot Stellato truly step up, but Adam Randall is the player Clemson needs to take the next step most.

Randall is the size of the unit at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, with a comparable build to NFL star A.J. Brown. That’s something the Tigers have lacked and he was practically absent from the lineup for most of the season, but we saw flashes versus Miami.

He made a 34-yard catch and run before his size forced a pass interference call later in the game. It was a moment Randall needed and it’s crucial for his development.

“It felt great. This season for me hasn’t gone statistically the way that projected I was going to go but at the end of the day, it’s just going out there and being able to play for my team and doing anything that I can. Saturday felt great, being able to catch the ball and run a little bit,” Randall said.

Playing free is a concept Randall emphasized and consistency is key. The problem lies in the fact that he wasn’t targeted in the rest of the game. Given the success he had, it’s a big question mark as to why he didn’t see the ball again.

“Some opportunities haven’t come my way and some haven’t gone my way but when they do come to me, just being able to go out there and just have a set connection with Cade [Klubnik] and I feel like my and him have been off a little bit sometimes,” Randall said.

For the two times Klubnik and Randall were connected against the Hurricanes, it looked pretty, so it should be something that’s mixed in more. The sophomore wide receiver was transparent about how the group is full of NFL talent so to be on the field, “you have to produce.”

It’s a small sample size, but the light may be coming on for Randall and it’s a desperate need for Clemson who need a change-of-pace outside and he can provide it. Now it’s just time to see it more of then and that starts at N.C. State.