By William Qualkinbush.
For the next few weeks, we’ll be doing a group-by-group overview of the Clemson football team in the wake of spring practice. As the cliché goes, “Everything starts up front,” so we begin our series with a look at where the Tigers stand on the offensive line.
When a team approaches the season with the level of expectations currently surrounding Clemson, the storylines are often predictable. Somewhere, a star skill player, the starting quarterback, or a dynamic game-changer on defense is stealing the headlines.
Under normal circumstances, carrying this theory into a discussion of Clemson’s offensive line would lead to a discussion of the starting five. However, these aren’t normal circumstances.
More than once this spring, a Clemson coach—the head man or either of the co-coordinators—lauded the four newcomers for setting the tone and the second-year players for bringing energy to the practice field. It was as if an increased talent level broke up the malaise up front and raised the stakes for everyone involved.
If the season started today, Dabo Swinney’s starting five up front would feature none of those impact newcomers, but more than one appear to be nipping at the heels of the veterans atop the depth chart.
The two starting tackles would be Isaiah Battle (left) and Joe Gore (right). Both are guys who boast starting experience, and both have done enough to get the nod—for now. There is also a bit of disappointment associated with each of them, as neither has truly blossomed into the player the staff feels he can be. That isn’t to say they aren’t quality players—Battle, in particular, will be playing on Sundays—but there seems to be additional untapped potential available.
Of all of the newcomers, Swinney has said Hyatt is closest to cracking the starting group. At one of the final practices of the spring, Swinney mentioned Hyatt was “not that far” from getting to that level. Fellow frosh Jake Fruhmorgen will almost certainly see action at tackle this season, but he doesn’t appear to be quite as advanced as Hyatt.
The two returners at guard have further entrenched themselves as starters, as Tyrone Crowder and Eric Mac Lain both enjoyed productive springs. Ryan Norton drew praise from the staff as the de facto center due to Jay Guillermo’s ongoing health issues. Outside of those veterans, however, things look a little bit dicey on the depth chart.
Both backups at guard are redshirt freshmen in Taylor Hearn and Maverick Morris. The staff spoke highly of both in terms of their preparedness to handle those roles, but the lack of experience could become problematic should injury strike. The same could be said of Justin Falcinelli, a redshirt freshman who spent some time at center and proved himself capable if inconsistent. Early enrollees Noah Green and Zach Giella will likely require a redshirt year.
The presence of two solid groups on the depth chart should be considered a plus heading out of spring practice, particularly since there were more questions than answers on the second unit when camp opened. A strong spring does not in any way guarantee the young players who made strides will continue to do so as August approaches, but Swinney and company will need that to be the case in order to prevent some sleepless nights.
God Bless!
WQ