By Will Vandervort.

The Clemson offensive line isn’t going to get pushed around by anyone ever again, at least that is the way left guard Tyrone Crowder sees it.

“This year, I kind of feel like we are a little more athletic and can kind of move around a little bit and have more speed and strength,” the redshirt sophomore said.

A lot of that is do the upgrade the Tigers have made in the last three years when it came to recruiting the offensive line, including this past year’s class which included five-star tackle Mitch Hyatt and four-star tackle Jake Fruhmorgen.

In the previous two classes Dabo Swinney signed Maverick Morris, Taylor Hearn, Justin Falcinelli and Crowder.

“The biggest thing is we have to communicate and we have to trust each other so everyone needs to learn the offense and needs to know what they are doing and know what other players are doing. It’s a big trust thing,” Crowder said.

The biggest thing Crowder is doing is improving his technique in regards to pass protection, while adjusting to stunts and speed rushes coming off the edge from corners and linebackers. It was an area that kept him off the field at times last season, though he did play in six games and took 203 snaps, the most of the younger linemen on the roster.

“I did not get a lot of snaps, but I got enough to learn the offense, learn the defense and learn the speed of the game,” he said. “It kind of helped me transition into this year and pick up on a few things.

“I kind of had to go back to the basics. Go back to simple technique and really working on my pass pro. That’s what I needed to improve on and that has been a big emphasis this spring and so far I have been doing pretty well at it.”

Crowder (6-2, 330 pounds) is currently projected to be the Tigers’ starter at left guard, joining Isaiah Battle (left tackle), Ryan Norton (center), Eric Mac Lain (right guard) and Joe Gore (right tackle) as the first group. As for the second group, it is field with young guys such as Hyatt (tackle), Morris (guard), Falcinelli (center), Hearn (guard) and Fruhmorgen.

Crowder says he has been impressed with the way Hyatt and Fruhmorgen have come in this spring and put themselves in position to play.

“I think they are picking up the offense pretty good,” he said. “I think the biggest thing for them is they all came in a little undersized, but they are going to build it in the weight room. But so far, everything has been pretty good. They have been picking things up pretty good.”