By Will Vandervort.

Though it wasn’t moving day by any stretch—that will happen in fall camp—Wednesday’s situational scrimmage in Death Valley was an important one for Clemson in terms of evaluating its young offensive linemen.

It was the only day of the spring where head coach Dabo Swinney will mix things up and will have the first team go against the second team on offense and defense.

Clemson’s offensive coaches really got a good idea of what freshmen like Mitch Hyatt, Jake Fruhmorgen, Justin Falcinelli and Taylor Hearn have digested this spring after watching them battle against the likes of veteran defensive linemen in Shaq Lawson, D.J. Reader and Carlos Watkins.

“Those guys played a lot last year so it was good for them,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said.

It was good because they and the coaches now have idea of how much they have learned in the 13 practices to this point and what they have to do get better. From what the media was told after Wednesday’s practice was that the first-team defensive line got the best of the young offensive linemen, but at the same time they all showed the will and fortitude to continue to work and battle through the adverse situations.

“It was just what you would expect,” Swinney said. “The first groups on both sides had a great day. The backups on both sides did not have as great of a day. It was an opportunity to kind of challenge them and for them to see where they need to be.

“The standard doesn’t change.”

The standard on the offensive line the last few years, or so it has seemed, has been about survival. Last year, Clemson played two games in the middle of the season with five healthy offensive linemen and most of the season with just six.

But those days seem to be over.

With the addition of Hyatt, Fruhmorgen, Falcinelli and Hearn, plus the improvement of guys like Tyrone Crowder and Maverick Morris, the Tigers have 10 very capable players battling it out for playing time on the offensive line. Plus, the young guys are making the veteran players even better.

“For one, those guys are not big talkers, they’re just workers,” Elliott said. “You are talking about Mitch and Jake in particular that come from a football background. They have uncles and fathers that have played at the highest level and they come from great programs where they were prepared.

“Then you have a guy like Taylor Hearn, who may not have come from the same caliber of a program, but he has been here a year. Now, you know he is going to be a mauler. So (the older offensive linemen) see these guys working and not saying a whole lot as well as seeing their athletic ability and they see the knowledge of the game that they have and it catches the attention of the older guys in a positive way. There is not any dissention but they understand with these young guys, it is a little bit different than what has been coming in here in the past.”