We are in the dog days of summer. Clemson baseball’s season has concluded and soon the Stanley Cup Playoffs will conclude. Aside from regular season Major League Baseball, now is “obsess about the next football season” season. As such, breakout players for every FBS football team has been released by collegefootballnetwork.com. You can follow them on X at @CFN365.
Who do they have as Clemson’s breakout player?
Clemson – Sammy Brown, LB
As seen in the play above, true sophomore linebacker Sammy Brown has good instincts, great range, and great athleticism. As a true freshman, Brown finished with 10 pressures and five sacks on just 38 pass-rushing snaps. An inside linebacker, he also added 57 solo tackles and 17 assisted tackles with only 9 missed tackles (10.8%).
He’s got some work to do in coverage, giving up 18 receptions on 22 targets at 13 yards per reception. But overall, Brown was a super effective linebacker for the Clemson Tigers last season and will only add to his snap count and skill set in 2025.
With Peter Woods, TJ Parker, and Amare Adams on the defensive line, Brown is going to be given the opportunity to swarm opposing offenses.
You can see their breakout player for every opponent on Clemson’s schedule below:
LSU – Patrick Payton, EDGE
Patrick Payton had a really disappointing season at Florida State last year that coincided with all of the other slop going on over there at the time. Many analysts thought Payton was going to elevate to that top tier of pass-rushers in 2024. Well there is an old adage that says, “Never wrong. Just Early.”
I think 2025 is going to be the year for Payton. He joins the LSU defense that already has playmakers like Whit Weeks and Harold Perkins, plus Dominick McKinley working on the interior of the defensive line. Payton’s best season was seven sacks and 44 pressures in 2023, and I expect him to best both of those marks with the Tigers in 2025.
Boston College – Turbo Richard, RB
Turbo Richard is a fantastic name for a running back. Despite only 55 attempts last season, Richard made the best of his opportunities by averaging over five yards per carry and breaking off eight 10+ yard runs. This would have ranked 95th of over 300 rushers.
This 14.5% run rate is much higher than Boston College’s starter last year, who topped out at 9.7%.
Troy – Matt Henry, RG
Matt Henry gave up four pressures and zero sacks on 224 pass-blocking snaps for the Troy Trojans last season. With a decent amount of experience running-blocking in both zone and gap schemes, Henry will provide the Trojans’ new transfer at Center a lot of help as he gets acclimated to Trojan football.
Georgia Tech – Brayden Manley, EDGE
Brayden Manley dominated at Mercer the past two seasons, amassing 13 sacks and 71 pressures on 489 pass-rushing snaps. Now he transfers over to set the edge for Georgia Tech.
Syracuse – Darrell Gill Jr., WR
Darrell Gill Jr had 31 catches for 553 yards and two touchdowns with Syracuse as a rotational wide receiver. Last year’s team saw three pass catchers garner over 100 targets, and none of them will be playing with the Orange for 2025.
That means Gill is now the most experienced wide out on the team after they didn’t sign any transfers that will start immediately.
UNC – Pryce Yates, EDGE
Pryce Yates joins the North Carolina Tar Heels defense after spending three years at the University of Connecticut. In his time there, he was productive, rushing the passer, amassing 14 sacks and 77 pressures on 767 pass-rushing snaps.
The key to his breakout will be playing alongside a more talented group of teammates instead of being the main focus at Connecticut.
SMU – Jalen Cooper, WR
SMU had a fantastic 2024 season, but unfortunately, lost over half of the receiving production for 2025. Luckily, Jalen Cooper looks like he is ready to compete as a true freshman.
He and teammate Daylon Singleton are expected to contribute immediately after having fantastic spring ball performances, mainly with the second team and some with the first team.
Duke – Darian Mensah, QB
Darian Mensah is a redshirt sophomore who started for Tulane in the 2024 season. He finished with 2,722 yards passing, 22 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a big-time throw rate of 5.6% (26th of 156). Beyond just the big-time throws, his average depth of target was an absurd 11.3 yards.
That ranked 17th in the nation. This shows up in his adjusted completion percentage, which ranked 27th in FBS. His best came from the medium passes, 10-19 yards down the field. In these spots, he finished with 990 yards, 10 touchdowns, one interception, and a 64% completion percentage.
The Duke Blue Devils ranked 49th in passes of 20+ yards last season, an area I expect Mensah to take big strides in for 2025. The big time throws were there (14 on 55 throws of 20+ yards), but so were the bad throws (8 turnover-worthy plays).
FSU – Osumane Kromah, RB
After finishing 132nd out of 134 FBS teams in rushing yards per play at 2.9, Florida State would be wise to start Osumane Kromah right away. His 445-pound squat in high school gives shades of Nick Chubb and Saquon Barkley as a gym rat running back.
He also totaled 1,356 yards and 15 touchdowns in his senior year of high school, 471 receiving yards, and eight touchdowns in the pass game.
Louisville – Caullin Lacy, WR
Before transferring to Louisville, Caullin Lacy dominated at South Alabama. His final year there, he finished with 91 catches for over 1,300 yards and seven touchdowns. He would have been the perfect breakout candidate for the Cardinals last season if it wasn’t for him breaking his collarbone. Miller Moss will have a very solid slot receiver to work with in 2025.
South Carolina – Boaz Stanley, C
Boaz Stanley played both center and right tackle for the Troy Trojans in 2024. His first half of the season at right tackle was dissatisfying, as he allowed 17 pressures and wasn’t as dominant.
When they moved him to center, he allowed just two pressures the rest of the way, and the Trojans averaged 6.1 yards per attempt on rushes that Stanley was directly responsible for (both A gaps).
With the South Carolina Gamecocks pretty much set for the season on the offensive line, Stanley will provide them with much-needed help at center. Playing next to Tree Babalade at guard will also help Stanley solidify his status as one of the top centers in the FBS.
