D.J. Uiagalelei’s pending departure from Clemson’s football program isn’t much of a surprise.

Uiagalelei plans to enter the transfer portal after two seasons as the starting quarterback, but those two years at the position have been anything but steady. After Uiagalelei struggled through a 2021 season in which he threw more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (9), speculation grew rampant as to just how strong his hold was on the job coming into this season, particularly with Clemson’s latest blue-chip quarterback signee joining the fold.

Uiagalelei got off to a hot start this fall, throwing 14 touchdowns with just two interceptions through the first seven games. Then came his three turnovers in three quarters against Syracuse on Oct. 22, which led to his first benching of the season. He was temporarily benched at Notre Dame two weeks later and looked like he might be again in the regular-season finale against South Carolina after completing a season-low 27% of his passes, though Clemson coach Dabo Swinney stuck with him in the Tigers’ 31-30 loss.

But after two ineffective series to start the ACC championship game against North Carolina, Uiagalelei was pulled. True freshman Cade Klubnik came on and immediately led the Tigers on a touchdown drive. Uiagalelei never saw the field again in Clemson’s title rout.

Now Klubnik will get his first career start in the Orange Bowl later this month, and Uiagalelei is on his way out. Turns out, though, he’s not the only Clemson quarterback on the move.

Billy Wiles has officially entered the portal after announcing his intention to do so Sunday. A former walk-on, Wiles was a reserve who played just 11 snaps in one appearance during his two seasons at Clemson. But after being put on scholarship before this season, Wiles’ departure further cuts into the scholarship players remaining in the quarterback room.

Hunter Johnson was Clemson’s No. 3 quarterback in his return to the program this fall, but his eligibility will be exhausted once the Orange Bowl is over. With Uiagalelei, Johnson and Wiles on the way out, that leaves less depth and even less experience at the position for next season.

For now, Klubnik and another former walk-on, Hunter Helms, are the lone holdovers. They will be joined by another five-star prospect, Briarwood Christian (Alabama) School standout Christopher Vizzina, who’s expected to follow through on his verbal commitment and sign with Clemson later this month.

Still, that would leave the Tigers with just three scholarship quarterbacks for the 2023 season. And of those options, Klubnik, assuming he takes all of the snaps in the Orange Bowl, will be the only one with more than 50 snaps worth of game experience to his name. Helms, a third-year sophomore who was put on scholarship before this season, hasn’t played more than two games in a season.

Swinney could choose to do what he did with Helms and Wiles and give a scholarship to hometown freshman Trent Pearman, a two-time South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year during his prep days at Daniel High who passed up scholarship offers from other schools during his recruitment to walk on at Clemson. But if that’s not the direction Swinney decides to go, the transfer portal is another option.

Even if Klubnik and Vizzina head into the offseason as the Tigers’ top two quarterbacks, Clemson could once again seek some experienced depth outside of the program. The Tigers did that last year by bringing back Johnson, who spent the previous four seasons at Northwestern before returning to fill out the depth chart behind Uiagalelei and Klubnik as a graduate transfer.

Swinney said last week he wasn’t sure if there were positions he felt like Clemson needed to address through the portal since he didn’t have clarity on what his roster attrition might be at the time.

“We’ll see what happens,” Swinney said then.

He’s getting those answers starting with the most important position on the field.

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