You hear it all the time in football. When a player is injured, lost for the year or suspended, his teammates and coaches always say. “It’s next man up.”

That was the case on Tuesday afternoon after we learned Clemson defensive end Austin Bryant was lost for the first three games due a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound defensive end had a screw surgically placed in his foot on Tuesday morning and likely will not return to action until the Georgia Tech game on Sept. 22.

So, next man up, right?

The problem is who is that next man up? It’s not like the Tigers have three proven studs at defensive end like they do at defensive tackle. Heck, they don’t even have two. Though he was a sophomore and played just 219 snaps as a true freshman, Bryant was Clemson’s most experienced defensive end.

Clelin Ferrell, who will start on one side of the line, is a redshirt freshman with no college game experience. Redshirt sophomore Richard Yeargin tallied 147 snaps last year while playing in 10 games, and Chris Register played in just one game last season and recorded four snaps.

Then there is true freshman Xavier Kelly, who just got on campus in June, and fellow true freshman LaSamuel Davis, who weighs just 215 pounds. Jabril Robinson played in six games last year and recorded 67 snaps, but he just moved to defensive end last week and he is not ready to be “the next man up.”

So who is the next man up? It’s probably Christian Wilkins. That’s right a guy that has never played the position in a college football game is probably Clemson’s best option to replace Bryant.

Clemson’s coaches feared something like this could happen, which is why Wilkins crossed trained at defensive end in spring practice. On Tuesday, the 6-foot-4, 305-pound sophomore was on the outside trying to pick back up where he left off in the spring.

“You are playing to more space for one, and two, there are a lot more things that can happen,” Wilkins said as he compared playing defensive end to defensive tackle. “You have down blocks from the tackles. You have sniffers and fullbacks coming at you, you have to watch the quarterback. There are just so many different things.

“You may have to drop in coverage. There are a lot more things that I will have to do that I’m not used to doing playing defensive tackle.”

The good news for Clemson is the fact Wilkins has a lot of playing experience which makes him the logical choice to start at Auburn, considering he has played in big-game atmospheres before.

Last year, Wilkins earned Freshman All-American honors when he tallied 84 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks while playing in 15 games and recording 453 snaps. However, every single one of those snaps came at defensive tackle, not defensive end.

“I’m going to attack it hard and just try to gain knowledge and get used to playing outside,” Wilkins said. “It is a little different than playing inside. You have a lot more responsibilities and you have to find ways to beat guys.

“Really, I’m just going to get in the film room, study as hard as I can and get with the other defensive ends and Coach (Marion) Hobby and just pick up everything I can to make sure I do an efficient job out there and with that prepare myself to play inside.”

In other words, he is going to do his best to be “the next man up.”