Heel Tough Blog: Stock Report- Clemson
The Tar Heels suffered their first setback of the 2026 season last Saturday, as Clemson stormed back from down 17-3 late in the second quarter to stun them 28-20. As the team sits in the middle of their second bye week of the season before a nine game sprint to the finish, here’s a look at the stock report around the Tar Heel football program.
⇩Coleman Bryson
Bryson had a really rough day for the Tar Heel on Saturday to say the least. While he did finish the game with seven total tackles, he registered a team-high five missed total tackles, all of which felt very costly for a defense that had so much success earlier in the game. In coverage, he had his issues, as well, allowing all four of his targets to be caught for 63 yards and a touchdown. This was his first start as a Tar Heel since coming to Chapel Hill last season and it went about as bad as it could have gone. The hope is that he can shake it off and be a contributor throughout the rest of the season, but the team needs to exhaust all options here during the bye week.
⇩Billy Edwards Jr.
After two promising performances to start the season, Edwards came crashing back to Earth and showed some concerns that might limit the expectations for the Tar Heel this season. He started the game 5 for 8 for 70 yards and a touchdown, showing some of the same ball distribution and play making that we had been talking about during the past two games. The Tigers dialed up the pressure on Edwards after that and the results were ugly, as he completed just 8 of his final 22 throws for just 65 yards and an interception. While he didn’t take a lot of hits, his footwork became very sloppy and he had a lot of happy feet in the pocket, leading to a lot of inaccurate throws, especially on tight window throws. This game showed that there are some significant limitations to his game and it has many fans jonesing for a new starter when the team takes the field against Notre Dame on October 3rd. While you shouldn’t just replace Edwards just because of one bad performance, this should have the staff taking a serious look at the other guys in the room to see if someone gives them a better chance to complete the important throws that you need to in order to win games like the one on Saturday.
⇩Jaiden Patterson
Patterson has been one of the most reliable members of this Tar Heel defense under Bill Belichick, but Saturday was the worst game we have seen from him. He was targeted the most of any defender on Saturday because he struggled to stay with the Clemson receiver and while only three of his seven targets were caught, they resulted in 55 yards and it could have been a lot worse had Clemson quarterback Tait Reynolds hit some open throws that Patterson gave up early. Making his day worse was the fact that he missed three tackles for a team that simply fell apart in that area late in the game. His track record since taking over a major role in last year’s Clemson loss would have you believe that he will bounce back, but this was a concerning performance.
⇩Jordan Hall
Hall was the player that took the biggest step back of those on the offensive line on Saturday. He graded out as the worst run blocker for the team on Saturday, but it wasn’t a big deal considering how well the team ran the ball in the other direction. The bigger issue was the struggles that he had in pass protection for a quarterback that was struggling with the pressure. He may have only allowed one sack, but he allowed six more quarterback pressures, making it difficult for Edwards to get comfortable in the pocket on some of the most important throws of the day. Clemson was definitely a tough test, especially with how much they blitzed, but there are even bigger tests on the schedule where the team will need Hall to be better.
⇩Aeron Burrell
For a third straight game, Burrell ends up in the trending down category. The good news is that he has found a nice rhythm in the punting game and has handled kickoff well, but he had a costly missed field goal that just can’t be ignored. So far this season, he is 0-3 on field goals 35 yards or longer, having missed one in each of the three games. His miss in the first quarter on Saturday didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but proved costly down the stretch when the team could have been up by eight instead of five following the field goal he hit on the drive interrupted by the weather delay. Right now, the placekicking game is very limited and that is not a good sign for a team that has not had as much success at putting the ball in the end zone as they would like.
⇩Andrew Threatt
Hall wasn’t the only member of the offensive line that had a rough day against Clemson. Like Hall, Threatt did not have a good day in run blocking, grading out with a 48.7 in that area. The pass protection was alright, but he did allow three pressures, the most so far in a game this season. Coming up from the FCS level, we knew there would be some bumps in the road for Threatt, but now we have to see how he bounces back with some tough opponents ahead.
⇩Mason Humphrey
Humphrey has been extremely quiet to start the season and that continued on Saturday. In 34 pass snaps, he was targeted six times but he hauled in just one of those for 17 yards. While a lot of Saturday’s incompletions when he was targeted fell on Edwards, it is part of what has been a slow start to his first season in a Tar Heel uniform. In the first three games of the season, Humphrey has caught just three of his ten targets for 38 yards, a far cry from the numbers that he was putting up at Lehigh. It can’t all be blamed on him, but he needs to be more of a factor moving forward if the offense is going to make progress.
⇩Isaiah Johnson
Johnson was one of the standouts along the defensive line in the game against East Tennessee State, but he had a quiet showing in the game against Clemson. In 49 defensive snaps, he registered just one total tackle and one quarterback and was relatively ineffective outside of that against a Clemson team that was able to run for 5.2 yards per carry. It doesn’t feel like you should be concerned with Johnson long term, but they need him to be a major factor in the middle when playing against the more successful rushing teams left on the schedule.
⇩Peyton Waters
Waters played a lot of outside corner for the Tar Heels on Saturday and saw a fair amount of targets in this one. All six of the targets he received were caught, but he was able to hold them to 33 yards receiving on those six catches. It was a little baptism by fire for Waters on the outside, especially matched up with the talented receivers that Clemson has, but the staff will be looking for him to show more resistance moving forward than he did in this game.
⇧Benjamin Hall
When we flip to the guys trending up, it is impossible not to have Hall atop that group after the performance that he had on Saturday. After a relatively quiet first two games on the ground, he broke out with a career rushing performance, carrying the ball 18 times for 130 yards and found the end zone on his lone reception for 15 yards. This performance justified all of the hype that we heard in the preseason and the hope is that if he continues to run the way he ran in this one, the staff will trust him a little bit more in the redzone instead of giving all of those reps to Demon June.
⇧Xavier Lewis
You could not have asked for a better start to the season for an interior defensive lineman if you are Lewis. He was easily the Tar Heels best defensive lineman again in this one, as he finished with five total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and six total quarterback pressures. Right now, he leads the country in tackles for loss (8.0) and sits tied for the most sacks in the country (6.0) through three games and is one of the analytic darlings on the defensive side of the ball to kick off the season. The Tar Heels have one of the true gems on this side of the football.
⇧Kaleb Cost
The secondary as a whole may have really struggled, but Cost had himself a nice performance. He finished with seven total tackles and a pass deflection and allowed just one of his two targets to be caught for 13 yards. The way he was able to fight off of blocks and make plays at or near the line of scrimmage was encouraging and was just what he needed after struggling in the season opener against TCU. He is being counted on as one of the leaders of this group and this is what we want to see more consistently from him.
⇧Christo Kelly
The left side of the offensive line had their trials and tribulations against the Tigers, Kelly had himself another strong performance in the middle. He was the highest graded run blocker for the team last week and was one of the main reasons that the team was able to have as much success as they did. He did allow two total quarterback pressures in pass protection, but it isn’t enough to outshine what he did in the run game. Kelly is having a good start to the season and the hope is that he can continue to be a strong anchor in the middle with some tough tests on the horizon.
⇧Jordan Shipp
The passing may have struggled in the final three quarters of the game, but Shipp still had a productive day for himself. He caught a team-high six of his seven targets for 68 yards, providing the only consistent receiving target throughout the day for Edwards. Like last year, he’ll need more help if the Tar Heels are going to make it to a bowl game, but he continues to do his part.
⇧Kenton Dopson III
Dopson only played 11 snaps against the Tigers, but he was the best corner that took snaps in this game. He was targeted twice and he allowed just one catch for three yards. If the other guys in this room continue to struggle and he proves that he can provide more resistance, then he could have a shot at more reps.
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