I have been asked a lot since the suspension of Ammon Lakip and the departure of Isaiah Battle if Clemson can still win the ACC this year. Of course, as I have said on this site already, I don’t think that is the case.

A lot of you have asked me why. The answer is simple. There are too many question marks in the trenches to say the Tigers are a favorite to win the ACC.

A long time ago a former coach told me, “It does not matter who you have playing quarterback. It doesn’t matter how good the running back is or how skilled the wide receivers are. It doesn’t matter what scheme you have in place. If you want to win championships in football, you have to be good in the trenches. You can spread the defense out all you want. You can bring all kinds of blitzes, you can do all of that stuff, but if you can’t block or tackle none of that matters. Football is a simple game. It all comes down to blocking and tackling.”

There is no doubt in my mind Clemson has the best quarterback in the country. I truly believe Deshaun Watson will leave Clemson as the greatest quarterback to have ever worn the orange and white. I believe Clemson’s wide receivers are the best in the ACC. Artavis Scott is special. Mike Williams is an All-ACC wide receiver and I think Charone Peake is poised to have a breakout year. Though Clemson’s running game doesn’t have that “difference maker,” it does have a ton of quality depth at the position.

On defense, the Tigers bring back Shaq Lawson, who is going to be a monster at defensive end, as well as defensive tackles D.J. Reader and Carlos Watkins. All three of those young men have made major contributions in the last two years to a defense that has been ranked as one of the best in the country. Ben Boulware is back to lead the linebackers, while Jayron Kearse and Mackensie Alexander can be All-Americans in the secondary.

Everything looks good right there. Those are the reasons I can say the Tigers can win nine or 10 games this year.

That’s not the question, though. The question is can Clemson win the ACC? Those pieces alone will not win the ACC.

Clemson’s issues are simple. It doesn’t have the depth it needs on the offensive and defensive lines to win a championship. Battle’s departure for the NFL’s Supplemental Draft leaves Clemson with only three offensive tackles on the two-deep depth chart.

The Tigers could not afford to lose anyone at the tackle positions and now they head into fall camp next month with only three. By the way, two of those three are true freshmen. So at one of the most important positions on the offensive line, one true freshman is starting in Mitch Hyatt, while the other will be the primary backup in Jake Fruhmorgen.

Yes, the coaches will adjust and other players will be asked to fill in the holes at left tackle, but when you start to try and fill in the holes, usually its leads to a few more leaks. By having to move Eric Mac Lain back outside or a Taylor Hearn, it takes away from the depth the Tigers once had at the guard positions.

The issues are the same on the defensive line. Lawson, Reader and Watkins will all be fine, but what happens if any of them were to go down with an injury? There is not proven a player at all behind either one of them. Then there is the other defensive end position where Kevin Dodd is listed as the starter with Martin Aiken and Chris Register listed as the backups. Is that a group that gives you superior confidence heading into that stretch where the Tigers play Louisville, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech? They may turn out to be great players for all we know, but we don’t know anything right now because they have never been asked to prove anything.

There are just too many questions to be answered in the trenches and my experience tells me when there are more questions than answers on the offensive and defensive lines, then you cannot predict a championship.

In my opinion, if you are looking for Clemson to win an ACC Championship and possibly play in the College Football Playoff, then 2016 looks to be your year.