A designation that has been trending in a certain direction for one of Clemson’s true freshmen is close to being official.
While the Tigers have yet to release a depth chart ahead of their Labor Day opener against Georgia Tech, Blake Miller would be the starting right tackle if Clemson played today, offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter confirmed. Miller, who has been getting more and more of the first-team reps at the position, was spotted taking part in conditioning drills with the first-team line at the end of today’s practice.
Streeter compared the 6-foot-6, 315-pound Miller, who’s been on campus since January, to the most recent player to start the first game of his Clemson career at offensive tackle.
“It’s very, very much like a Mitch Hyatt type of deal,” Streeter said. “(Miller) came in and really understands the game, which is really hard to do at offensive line. There are so many moving parts, it’s hard to do that at a young age. A lot of times, it takes a little bit longer for those guys. And then he brings a toughness every single day. There’s no question at all that he is one of the toughest guys we’ve got. He’s really strong, too. All of those things combined, he’s doing some good stuff.”
Should the pecking order up front remain the same as it is now over the next two weeks, that means Walker Parks, last season’s starting right tackle, would move inside to right guard, remaining in the starting five along with Will Putnam, Marcus Tate and veteran tackle Jordan McFadden. Streeter didn’t rule out Parks and even Tate, projected to be the starting left guard, playing multiple positions along the line this fall.
“We’re never always settled until the very, very last week maybe, but we feel pretty good about some of our guys that have been repping with those ones and also some of those guys with the twos as well,” Streeter said. “Feel really good mentally about where they are.
“We’ve just got to be ready for anything and everything. And then I feel great where Blake is learning that tackle position. We’re still rotating those guys and continuing to evaluate, but man I feel really, really good about where those guys are.”
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