Hopefully DJ Uiagalelei Can Shed Weight Figuratively, As Well As Literally

Could this season become one of those feel good comeback stories that movies are made of for DJ Uiagalelei and Clemson?

Already this spring, there has been a lot of talk about Uiagalelei’s weight loss and how he now looks physically, but the real question still remains. The question of how he handles the coming season after a down sophomore season. Could he have shed more this offseason than just physical weight?

Everyone knows he has lost as much as 20 pounds and hopes to weigh between 230 and 235 by the fall but what many aren’t talking as much about is how he just may be shedding the weight of the world from his shoulders.

Last season began with Uiagalelei as a Heisman hopeful that quickly changed, beginning with the first snap of the season. At the same time not many were talking about the things that played a part in how that happened.

Lining up behind a makeshift offensive line to start the season ceratinly didn’t help, nor did the drops by his receivers that seemed to become more and more contagious throughout. He also sustained multiple injuries, all of which had to factor in.

One or two of these together can be overcome by some but with all of them combined you can be assured that makes it a little more difficult. As the season went on one would think the weight he was carrying on his shoulders was getting heavier by the week.

Besides putting the injuries in his rear view mirror, you can bet Uiagalelei will also want to put what may have been one of the worst season of his entire football career behind him. Many will be watching closely to see if he can do that or if the weight of Clemson football is just too heavy for him to shoulder.

Everyone knows that it will be hard to gauge just how much of the mental weight he has shed until the regular season begins but it is nice to see, as spring practice rolls on, that Dabo Swinney and the coaching staff seem to feel that Uiagalelei is progressing and that his confidence is still there.