(Chicago Tribune)

Here we are with a new national champion. Kudos to Dabo Swinney (even though I can’t stand him) and the Clemson Tigers for a hell of a game. I personally would have liked to see Bo Scarbrough finish the game but hey, injuries are a part of football. Apparently so is firing your offensive coordinator the week of the national title game, replacing him with an alcoholic, and not converting a single third-down in the second half.

I digress, Clemson earned a hard-fought victory, and the game was a pleasure to watch. Now we are left with the great question that plagues our society every time we crown a new College Football National Champion: could they beat the Cleveland Browns?

Absolutely not. The fact that anyone could even fathom that as a rational argument or that ESPN continues to push this nonsense to fill broadcast space on their network is an obscene insult to the intelligence of the common football fan. I have verbalized variations of that statement before and I’ll usually get an answer along the lines of “but a lot of *insert team’s name* players are going to the NFL.” Think about that for a second. If you’ve ever made that assertion pertaining to this argument, you are not using your brain. Sure, a few of the players on Clemson’s roster will make it to the NFL. A few will even get drafted. Clemson sent 9 players to the NFL via the 2016 Draft. Nine professional players from one college roster is impressive and this year’s team might get close to that number but let’s make something clear: every single player on the Cleveland Browns is ALREADY IN THE NFL.

Now I’m going to take this debate to a place where it’s actually debatable. Could the Tigers, the #1 college football team in all the land, beat the team of their peers who were deemed to be the best individual players in the country at their respective positions? This, my friends, is a decent proposition. My gut tells me that the “College All-Star Team,” as I’ll refer to them, is still better than Clemson, but I’ve compared position match-ups statistically and declared a final winner.

AP All-American First Team

Offense

Image via: tampabay.com

QB- Lamar Jackson, So. Louisville

RB’s- D’Onta Foreman, Jr. Texas; Dalvin Cook, Jr. Florida State

T’s- Cam Robinson, Jr. Alabama; Ryan Ramczyk, Jr. Wisconsin

G’s- Cody O’Connell, Jr. Washington State; Dan Feeney, Sr. Indiana

C- Pat Elfein, Sr. Ohio State

TE- Evan Ingram, Sr. Mississippi

WR’s- Dede Westbrook, Sr. Oklahoma; Corey Davis, Sr. Western Michigan

All-Purpose- Curtis Samuel, Jr. Ohio State

Defense

Image via: SI.com

DE’s- Myles Garrett, Jr. Texas A&M; Derek Barnett, Jr. Tennessee

DT’s- Jonathan Allen, Jr. Alabama; Ed Oliver, Fr. Houston

LB’s- Reuben Foster, Sr. Alabama; Zach Cunningham, Jr. Vanderbilt; Jabrill Peppers, So. Michigan

CB’s- Jourdan Lewis, Sr. Michigan; Adoree’ Jackson, Jr. Southern California

S’s- Malik Hooker, So. Ohio State; Minkah Fitzpatrick, So. Alabama

Special Teams

K- Zane Gonzalez, Sr. Arizona State

P- Mitch Wishnowsky, So. Utah

All-Star Offense vs. Clemson Defense

Clemson was one of the few teams this season able to hold Lamar Jackson to a somewhat sub-par day throwing the football. The Heisman winner went 27 of 44 on the day with 295 yards, one touchdown and one interception in Louisville’s ACC bout in Death Valley. Jackson did his damage on the ground that evening, rushing for 162 yards and two touchdowns on 31 attempts. Dalvin Cook had his own stellar day carrying the ball against Clemson, rushing for 169 yards and four touchdowns on just 19 carries in a 37–34 loss to the Tigers on October 29th. Run them behind Cam Robinsion and Pat Elfein, who lead the blocking efforts for two of the best rushing attacks in the country. Consider that Clemson had the 29th-ranked rushing defense in the nation this season, allowing over 125 yards per game, and this looks like a clear advantage to the All-Star team. They might not ever have to actually throw the ball to Corey Davis or Dede Westbrook.

Clemson Offense vs. All-Star Defense

The first-team All-American defense was headlined this year by three Alabama Crimson Tide players, all of whom were a part of the unit that allowed the Clemson offense to cover 511 total yards in the National Title game. These are the only three first-team All American defensive players to face the Tigers this season, as no ACC players made the defensive first-team. The only argument I could make in favor of the All-Star defense is that Clemson wouldn’t be able to exploit mismatches on the outside because there aren’t any mismatches to find. After watching last night’s game, I truly believe Mike Williams is unstoppable. That being said, if anyone can even keep him remotely limited, it’s Michigan’s Jourdan Lewis. Among other spectacular performances this season, he held one of the Big 10’s top receivers, Chris Godwin, to just one receptions for eight yards in a 49–10 rout of Penn State in September. That reception was a touchdown, but Lewis was on the other side of the field and it was during garbage time in a 35–3 game. This defense would have an elite pass rush, but I think DeShaun Watson proved last night that he can handle pressure. Slight advantage here goes to the Clemson offense.

Final Verdict

This game would be an absolute shootout. Two high-powered offenses, but only one strong defense, relatively speaking. The All-Star team has a better ability to get stops, and that would show as the game goes on. The Jackson/Cook/Foreman rushing attack would force the Clemson defense to load the tackle box and allow Lamar Jackson to go to work against man coverage on the outside with the two best receivers in the nation as targets. I’ve got the All Star Team as a 10-point favorite, over/under 59.5 (hammer that over.) Prediction: All Stars 52 Clemson 42.

Now can we all simply refrain from asking if Clemson can beat the Browns?