After an injury-plagued 2025 season, a lot of eyes are on the offensive line at Clemson during fall camp.
The Tigers had five freshmen offensive linemen enroll early and go through spring practice. A sixth, Adam Guthrie, arrived in the summer, but will miss the season with an injury.
While none of those early enrollees are expected to be among the starting five when the season kicks off on September 5 at LSU, there are a couple who are competing for spots in the two-deep. Grant Wise is vying for the spot as the backup to Harris Sewell at center, with Leo Delaney and Braden Wilmes also getting some run with the twos at tackle during camp. Carter Scruggs has been working at both tackle and guard, and Chance Barclay has been mixing it up at guard.
No matter how the pecking order shakes out, head coach Dabo Swinney believes the Tigers might have hit on all six offensive linemen in the most recent signing class.
“They are coming,” Swinney said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “Long way to go.”
Since Matt Luke was brought on as offensive line coach following the 2023 regular season, he’s made it a focal point to upgrade the talent up front. Luke has signed 11 players across his first two full recruiting classes, although one of them, Rowan Byrne, transferred out after his freshman campaign.
Another thing Luke has focused on is adding more size, and seeing as all five of the early enrollees from the most recent class are already in the neighborhood of 300 pounds or more, that mission is getting accomplished.
There’s also the toughness factor, something else Swinney thinks all six of the freshmen possess.
“I think Matt has done a great job of identifying the guys that have the right attributes. And have the right makeup or DNA,” Swinney added. “You get that part right, we will get the rest of it.”
While it might take some time for any of those freshmen to crack the starting five, after the first scrimmage of fall camp, Swinney is confident the Tigers have something in those players.
“Just got to stay the course with them,” Swinney said.
