CLEMSON — It hasn’t taken long for Tait Reynolds to thoroughly impress Dabo Swinney.

The freshman quarterback quickly established himself as the clear-cut backup, and since then he’s pushed presumed starter Chris Vizzina to the point that Swinney has left open the possibility that the freshman could actually win the job.

Looking at Reynolds, it’s easy to see why Swinney is so high on the young signal-caller. He looks more like a tank than a 19-year-old freshman. He is a physical specimen from head to toe.

“I mean, I don’t know what you wouldn’t like,” Swinney said ahead of the first practice of fall camp. “Name anything that you like about quarterbacks — I mean, I guess he is not 6’4, what is he, 6’2 or something — but is there really anything to not like? He is a great young prospect.”

After a stellar junior campaign, Reynoldw was on the rise. He threw for more than 2,200 yards with 22 touchdowns and just five interceptions as a junior. Where he really made his mark was with his legs, rushing for 1,426 yards and averaging more than 10 yards per carry. He also had a really good showing at the Elite 11 last summer.

However, a hamstring injury robbed Reynolds of basically his entire senior season. It was one of those out-of-sight, out-of-mind type of things with many.

But Reynolds didn’t let the fact that he missed most of his senior season hamper his desire. He remained determined to get to Clemson and firmly insert himself into the quarterback competition. So much so that the two-sport star has pretty much put his baseball career on hold, so all of his focus can go into playing quarterback for the Tigers. And insert himself he has.

“That is why we signed him,” Swinney added. “We don’t like to sign players, especially at that position, that we don’t think we can be really good.”

There is no doubt that Reynolds has all the physical tools. He certainly has the arm. In fact, he might have the biggest arm of any quarterback on the roster. He’s also an explosive runner, a true dual-threat.

Where the questions lie is in regard to the mental aspect. Has the game slowed down enough for him? Can he process what he’s seeing quickly enough? Can he make the right pre-snap reads? Those are the kind of things Swinney will be looking for throughout camp, and what will ultimately decide if he can realistically beat out the older Vizzina.

“He is big, he is strong, he is really fast, explosive, he’s got elite arm talent, he is a great kid, a great leader. He’s got all those things,” Swinney said. “But he has to put it all together and go be a great quarterback.