Clemson needs more from T.J. Moore, Amare Adams and Chris Johnson Jr.

Five games into the season, three of Clemson's most talked-about players have yet to play the role the Tigers built around them. Matthew Schmidt of Roundtable Sports named wide receiver T.J. Moore, defensive tackle Amare Adams and running back Chris Johnson Jr. as the players who have to step up if Clemson is going to reach nine or even 10 wins.

Moore has had the steepest fall. He came into 2026 looking like a possible first-round pick, but he has 25 catches for 235 yards and one touchdown, an average of 9.4 yards per reception. Last season the 6-foot-3 receiver caught 52 passes for 837 yards and four scores at 16.1 yards per catch, and he averaged 14.5 yards per catch as a freshman. Some of the drop comes from the quarterback position, where true freshman Tait Reynolds is learning on the job. Schmidt doesn't put all the blame on the offense, though, writing that "there's also no excuse for him not doing more after the catch."

Adams was the opportunity on defense. The former five-star recruit committed in late 2023 and hardly played last year behind Peter Woods, DeMonte Capehart and Stephiylan Green. All three are gone, so the interior was his to take. Instead, Roundtable reports that the 6-foot-4, 305-pounder has not pulled ahead of transfers Andy Burburija and Devarrick Woods, and he has eight tackles through five games. He has the size and athleticism to change games but hasn't done it yet.

Johnson was one of Dabo Swinney's bigger additions from the transfer portal. At SMU last season he ran for 479 yards and four touchdowns at 7.1 yards per carry. He also hurt Clemson last October, gaining 59 yards and scoring on six carries and adding four catches for 40 yards. In orange, he has 101 rushing yards and two receptions, and Schmidt writes that Swinney hasn't looked comfortable giving him the ball. One encouraging sign is that Johnson has been more involved over the last couple of weeks, which may mean the staff is starting to trust him.

The timing is good for all three. Clemson (3-2) hosts Charleston Southern (3-3) on Saturday, Oct. 17, at noon EDT on ACC Network. A home game against an FCS opponent is a chance to get Moore going after the catch, give Adams more snaps in the middle of the line and give Johnson enough carries to find some rhythm before the rest of the ACC schedule.

The bigger target is a strong finish. Hitting the win totals Roundtable mentions would take a much better second half than first, and the three players in this story are a big part of what Clemson still has to fix. A passing game with a freshman quarterback needs Moore to be a downfield threat again. A run defense without last year's tackles needs a player to lead the interior. And an offense looking for explosive plays could use the burst Johnson showed at SMU.

Saturday won't settle any of that. It will show whether any of the three is starting to turn things around.