Could Clemson true freshman offensive lineman Brayden Jacobs see more time on the field as this season progresses?

During his Wednesday evening media availability, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spoke highly of Jacobs and his future potential, saying it’s “unfortunate” Jacobs hasn’t been able to play as much as the Tigers had hoped, due to how their games have shaken out so far this season. But Swinney is hopeful he’ll get more chances to play over the rest of the season.

Swinney also discussed redshirt decisions on Wednesday evening, saying they’ll have a better idea next week about the true freshmen who will redshirt, based on how things play out in this Saturday’s game at North Carolina (12 p.m., ESPN). According to Swinney, true freshman tight end Logan Brooking is one player the Tigers are planning to “hold” for the final four games of the regular season in order to maintain his redshirt.

As for the 6-foot-7, 355-pound Jacobs, Swinney called him a “work in progress,” but the Tigers remain high on the highly regarded offensive tackle from Georgia and the son of former NFL running back Brandon Jacobs.   

“It’s unfortunate that we have not played as well as I hoped, not had as many snaps as we had hoped to have at this point in the season. As a result of that, some guys just haven’t been able to play quite as much as we want,” Swinney said.

Jacobs has only played eight snaps so far this season, and Swinney said when he has gotten to play, he’s made some mistakes with his technique due to being too “hyped up.” Still, Swinney sees a bright future ahead for the former unanimous four-star prospect who enrolled at Clemson back in January.   

“The biggest thing is a couple of opportunities he’s got in there, and he’s overset a couple times. He doesn’t really do that at practice, but he’s just kind of hyped up in a game and he oversets a lot… So, he’s just gotta play,” Swinney said.

 “He’s a special talent, and he’s smart. He’s going to be a great one for us. We’ve got a long way to go still. He’s gotten some short-yardage work with us, where he’s started on some of that stuff. But hopefully he’ll have more opportunity these next eight games.”

Regarding redshirts, Swinney said there’s a few more players, along with Brooking, that the Tigers are planning to hold and play in the final four games of the regular season to preserve their redshirts.

“That’s probably something we’ll probably address more next week. We’ll see how it goes this week. But just the nature of the games that we’ve played, a few of those guys we haven’t had a chance to really play them much. So, we’ll hold kind of where we are on, especially those freshmen, and then we’ll go from there,” Swinney said.

“A guy like Logan Brooking, for example, who we’re super high on – that was kind of our plan going in, was to save him for the last four games, and then just kind of cut him loose after that. So, we’ll have a few more guys.”

Swinney hopes this time next year, the NCAA will have a “5 for 5” rule that would give athletes five years of eligibility to play in five full seasons.

“Hopefully this time next year, we’re not even dealing with this [four-game redshirt rule]. Hopefully this time next year, we’ll have a 5 for 5 rule in place,” Swinney said. “I hope so. I don’t know so, but I certainly hope so.”