CLEMSON – For the last two years, there was no debate or concern about who was Clemson’s starter at tight end.

After recording 127 receptions, 17 touchdowns, and 1,380 total yards in his four year-campaign as a Tiger, and two years as a starter, Jake Briningstool left Clemson with several program-records, and a large hole to fill.

Despite less certainty after Clemson lost one of its most reliable playmakers in Briningstool, tight ends coach Kyle Richardson is confident in the talent rising to fill his absence. 

“(Briningstool) was a great player for us,” Richardson said at Clemson Football’s annual media outing on Tuesday. “All-ACC guy who took off to the next level and that’s a lot of reps over the last two years. Those game reps are hard to replicate in practice… But there’s guys in the room that have played football too. All the guys in the room, they came here to play football and they came here to play football at a high level.”

For Richardson, an obvious successor to Briningstool’s old job is junior Olsen Patt-Henry, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound veteran who missed spring practice while recovering from a shoulder injury.

Last season, Patt-Henry recorded 121 yards with three touchdowns in 14 games and one start. He caught two passes against Virginia for a career-high 51-yards and two touchdowns, making the first pair of tight ends with multi-touchdown seasons in head coach Dabo Swinney’s career. 

Richardson told the media that Patt-Henry will be “100 percent” ready to play in Clemson’s season opener against LSU on Aug. 30, despite the injury that sidelined him in the spring.

The tight end room also boasts the talents of redshirt junior Josh Sapp, the “old guy” in the room according to Richardson. Sapp, a Greenville, S.C., native,  accounted for 123 yards and two touchdowns in one start over the last two seasons.

“Nobody really says much about Sapp, but Sapp’s a good football player and he’s a productive guy when he’s had opportunities,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “He’s not as big, but he plays bigger than he is. He’s very savvy, very instinctive.”

Behind Sapp and Patt-Henry, the most experienced of the bunch, is Christian Bentacur, a former unanimous top-125 recruit from Lakemoor, Ill.

In high school, Bentacur (6-4, 240) was ranked the third-best tight end in the nation by ESPN, after placing in the top five in Illinois history in receiving yards, touchdowns, and receptions. After redshirting his freshman year, playing in six games and catching one pass for seven yards, Richardson and Swinney are ready for him to take on a bigger role.

“He’s got everything that you’re looking for with a tight end,” Richardson said.  “He’s got a mixture of all of it. He’s got the size that they’re looking for at the next level. So from a strength standpoint, really, really smart, and a really hard worker. He’s one of those guys you correct something, it’s probably fixed on the next rep… He’s the total package when you’re looking for in a football player at this level and potentially taking that next step.”

While Swinney did not go into explicit detail about his opinions of Bentacur, his analysis of Bentacur was simple.

“He’s special.”

Behind Bentacur, Sapp, and Patt-Henry on the depth chart is true freshman Logan Brooking, a Bluffton, S.C., native who stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 235 pounds. Swinney noted that Brooking also has a chance to be special, and hopes that the Tigers can “steal a year” by redshirting him.

Of course, the biggest question in the tight end room is former Clemson basketball star Ian Schieffelin (6-8, 265), who announced his commitment to play one year of football for the Tigers earlier this spring.

Though Swinney was able to work with “The Chef” at his high school camp earlier in the summer, he has “no idea” what to expect from the graduate in fall camp. However, he expressed that his athleticism is “as advertised.”

Though Clemson’s tight end room is less concrete than it has been in the last two years, the Tigers enter the new season with depth, experience, budding talent, and 1,067 points and 884 rebounds on the basketball court.