Following Clemson’s March 28 spring game, head coach Dabo Swinney provided clarity on the Tigers’ quarterback battle, saying that heading into the summer, redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina remains the QB1, while true freshman Tait Reynolds has emerged as the No. 2 quarterback.

Swinney then went on to say that redshirt freshman Chris Denson — who entered the spring as the No. 2 quarterback – now has a decision to make about whether he still wants to be a quarterback or if he likes his chances playing another position.

On his Always College Football show, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy weighed in on Clemson’s QB competition and where things stand coming out of the spring.

“Going into the spring, the assumption was that the competition would be between Christopher Vizzina and redshirt freshman Chris Denson, and then a true freshman Tait Reynolds,” McElroy said. “But what actually emerged is that Vizzina, he right now, if they played a game tomorrow, he’d start. That’s not a huge surprise. But what might be the biggest surprise is that the backup right now is gonna be Reynolds — not Denson. So everyone kind of thought that it would be Denson that would push Vizzina the hardest, and he has now kind of fallen, it sounds like, to the third string. And Swinney is openly talking about the possibility of a position change.”

Swinney said after the spring game that Vizzina and Reynolds have made the race to be Clemson’s new starting quarterback a two-man race. He even said it was not close.

“We came out of the spring, CV one and Tait is two [on the depth chart]. It’s not close. Those two guys separated, and that’s where we are. That’s just where we are,” Swinney said.

McElroy brought up the “it’s not close” quote from Swinney, and McElroy believes that is “kind of stunning.”

“You don’t often hear that from a coach that’s trying to protect the interest of the players and protect the interest of the program, so it’s kind of stunning to hear that,” McElroy said. “It’s also a little stunning that a young player who missed most of his high school senior season was able to go and perform that well in 15 practices.”

Reynolds played for both teams in the spring game, and between the two sides, the Queen Creek, Arizona native was 7-for-10 for 74 yards. He also ran for a 1-yard touchdown for the Orange team in the second quarter.

Reynolds was the No. 3 prospect in the state of Arizona and the 11th-best dual-threat quarterback nationally in the 2026 recruiting class, according to ESPN.

A hamstring injury basically robbed Reynolds of his entire senior season at Queen Creek (Ariz.) High School, but before that, he completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 2,238 yards with 22 touchdowns and only five interceptions as a junior in 2024. He also rushed 137 times for 1,426 yards and 19 touchdowns that year en route to being named by the Arizona Cardinals as the state’s player of the year.

After the spring game, Swinney also readily admitted that Reynolds really has a shot at pushing for Clemson’s starting job.

“Swinney has described how his arm talent is elite,” McElroy said. “He’s big, he’s strong, and sure, as a young player, there are some things he can do better operationally. But he’s a guy that just continues to get better and better and better, and that’s really big. And then, can Reynolds actually challenge Vizzina for the starting job this season? That was another question that was asked in the postgame press conference. Swinney’s answer was one word – he said, ‘Absolutely.’ That’s interesting. That is very, very interesting.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily an indictment on Vizzina, by the way. I think more than anything else, it’s an endorsement of what Reynolds might actually be and what he could develop into. By the way – stop me if you’ve heard this before — there was a really young, talented true freshman that led Clemson to the national championship back in 2018. His name? Trevor Lawrence. Some guys are just different. Swinney is not afraid to do it. We’ll see if that happens this year. I don’t know if it will.”

Vizzina, too, played well Clemson’s spring game, completing 10 of 18 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown.

Swinney said in late January that Vizzina – who served as Cade Klubnik’s backup for multiple years – entered spring practice in the “pole position” to take over as the Tigers’ starter in 2026. Now, with spring ball in the books, Vizzina is still in the “pole position” according to Swinney.

As for Denson and the possibility of him moving to another position, McElroy says it will be “really interesting” to see how that shakes out.

Swinney said if Denson wants to move from the quarterback position, he will leave that up to him.

“Denson is as physically gifted as anybody on that roster. This is a guy that ran for over 100 yards in one quarter against Furman last year. He can flat-out fly. But from a passing game standpoint, it doesn’t sound like he’s where he needs to be to compete for the starting job. And he apparently has a decision to make,” McElroy said.

“If he wants to stay at quarterback, he’ll have a role, but he might be able to go and play a different position and have a bigger role. So, that will be really interesting to have a clear position change sitting on the table, and it’s up to Denson to decide if he wants to pursue something else. That’s tough if you’re Denson. You came there to be a quarterback, and now you got beat out by a true freshman, who has barely played, has jumped you right now. That’s a hard conversation. But it’s also a testament to how good Reynolds is, first and foremost. And hey, I want to help the team, whatever it takes — Clemson is all about culture, right? — maybe I switch to a different position, or maybe I can help this team in a different way — I’m open to that. After all, they switched Adam Randall from receiver to running back last year, and it worked out pretty well for the most part.”

The bottom line on Clemson’s QB battle, McElroy concluded, is “the Vizzina against Reynolds quarterback storyline is gonna be interesting.”

“It’s going to probably the storyline of fall camp,” McElroy said. “Doesn’t sound like Reynolds is a guy that’s just content being a backup and waiting his turn. It sounds like he is a legitimate threat to continue to improve and maybe go just steal the job outright. And if he does, that will be really interesting there in the ACC.”

–Photo by Dawson Powers