By Heath Bradley.

Chad Morris met with the media following practice Monday morning. His main topic of discussion was the developments in the offensive depth chart heading into the opener versus Auburn. The Tigers are less than two weeks away from kickoff and Morris detailed today who was currently at first team as well as other depth chart news and notes at variety of positions. Some of the highlights include David Beasley who is ahead of Kalon Davis at left guard, Shaq Anthony at left tackle ahead of Joe Gore, and Stanton Seckinger at second team tight end. Morris was also optimistic that Giff Timothy could return and be ready for action by the Auburn game. Morris also discusses the receiving corps as well as the battle for backup quarterback, which as of today has been won by Cole Stoudt.

Less than two weeks out from kickoff, the depth chart at offensive line is starting to shape up. Players have taken steps to secure positions on the two deep, as well as break into starting role. Today, Morris discussed where the Tigers stood on the offensive line heading into Auburn preparation.

“We are kind of setting the depth chart as close as we can. At left guard we have David Beasley, at right tackle, right now Shaq Anthony has been working there. With the intent to hopefully get Gifford Timothy back, we should. He is slowly coming back. We are excited about getting Gifford back; it will give us some depth right there. We have Obviously Dalton at center and Brandon Thomas at left tackle. “ Gifford Timothy, may be back in time for the Auburn game form the knee injury he sustained early in camp. However, just because he is back and available to play does not necessarily mean he will start according to Morris. “I think he has to be ready to go by next Monday. From that point it is going to be our evaluation to see if he is able of making his footwork and where he is from a mental standpoint. Obviously if he cannot go next Monday and Tuesday, he cannot play,” said Morris.

The offensive line has seemed to be an area of concern this entire off season for many Clemson fans, but as of today, Morris seemed to feel comfortable with the group heading into week one.

“I feel comfortable, but at the same sense you know you have to get other guys ready. We have to have at least 7-8 that we have to get ready, get going. A lot of that is going to depend on where Giff Timothy is by game week. It is kind of hard to tell right now. I feel like he is going to be back, but I do not know if he will be in a situation where he is ready to play. We still have Dalton in there. With Dalton in there it gives us a whole other dimension. Our confidence level is high when Dalton is in there. Hopefully we will have it set in there for him. Ryan Norton will be the backup center. We will try not and put as much pressure on him as we can. Those guys still have a long way to go. These last three days of practice we have had have been there best days. We have really had to challenge those guys, almost to the point of being ugly. I really hate being ugly, but sometimes being nice doesn’t work. They have responded and has been good to see the last three days, which I think has been their best three days of camp,” said Morris.

The Tigers lost an All-American at tight end in Dwayne Allen following 2011, this means that Brandon Ford a converted wide receiver will be #1 tight end heading into 2012. Today we learned from Morris, that the #2 tight end will also be a converted wide receiver  redshirt Freshman Stanton Seckinger.

“Brandon Ford and Stanton Seckinger are the two guys right there. They are going to give us the most versatility. We will follow that up with Sam Cooper. That is kind of your top three guys right there as you get going into the season,” said Morris.

2011 was a season that saw quarterback Tajh Boyd break numerous records for the Tigers. That was not enough for Boyd, and according to Morris he is ready to lead this team to even bigger and better things in 2012. His off season work as well as his attention to detail this fall will hopefully propel him to a great 2012 season.

“Tajh definitely has a hunger for learning. He wants to be the best. He wants you to coach him hard. He is very much a leader, if not the leader of this football team. Not the offense but this entire team. Everybody looks to him, both good and bad. You hope for him to continue to grow in his maturity level. He is going to make mistakes throughout the course of the season. It is not the matter of if he does, but when he does. All quarterbacks will make mistakes; it is how you respond to the next play. Those are the things that we have to get better with him,” said Morris.

Will Boyd is undoubtedly the #1 quarterback, the battle for #2 was highly contested this spring. As of today, Morris confirmed that sophomore Cole Stoudt is slated to be the Tigers backup, with Kelly and Roberts close behind.

“Cole Stoudt finished the camp obviously as the #2 guy. Chad Kelly and Morgan Roberts are definitely the next two guys behind them. Hopefully we can hold Chad as long as we can, but he is definitely making a strong push to find his way in. We feel good with what we got, with Tajh obviously being our #1 guy,” said Morris.

The Tigers has their final full scrimmage on Saturday, and after reviewing the film, Morris feels that it was their best scrimmage to date this fall camp.  “I thought Saturday’s scrimmage was probably our best. Like I said the last three days have been our best three days from an offensive standpoint. There were some good things; both the ones and the twos did a lot of good things. They moved the football; we made good decisions with the football. We still made some costly turnovers, as far as throwing a couple of picks that were totally avoidable and shouldn’t happen. It was a great start, a really good start as we get into Auburn prep, as we finish camp in that final scrimmage.”

With fall camp concluding with the beginning of classes Wednesday, it is now time for the Tigers to start to focus on their first opponent, the Auburn Tigers. According to Morris, the offense has already began prep for the game. “Well we are still finishing camp right now, but we are turning our attention to Auburn. We are watching video, talking, and doing things in practice that we have seen.”