Jordan McFadden is entering his third season as a starter at Clemson and fifth overall, so he’s been part of plenty of offensive lines during his time with the Tigers.
None have given him a stronger sense of chemistry than this one.
“This is the best I’ve felt since I’ve been here personally about cohesiveness,” McFadden said.
That was a glaring issue last year when injuries and ineffectiveness made for a musical chair of sorts up front. The Tigers started eight different offensive line combinations in 13 games and had three different starting centers, which factored into the offense’s dropoff as a whole.
Clemson didn’t rank better than 82nd in the Football Bowl Subdivision in yards, points or passing offense. After giving up seven sacks in the season opener against Georgia, the Tigers only allowed 14 sacks in the final 12 games and found more consistency in the running game later in the season to finish a respectable 58th nationally in rushing yards.
Still, stability or not, McFadden said the line’s subpar performance overall has been a source of motivation for the unit heading into this season.
“I definitely think everybody has a chip on their shoulder,” he said. “It’s not so much us reading what everybody else is saying, but knowing what we’re capable of and knowing we didn’t perform to that standard of play here every game last season was disappointing. Everybody was just ready to get to work and ready to kind of show the country what we can do Sept. 5.”
Yet it’s that continuity, at least during the preseason, that has McFadden believing the group is capable of a rebound. The senior from Spartanburg is one of four starters back up front, though there have been some tweaks to the formation.
Senior Will Putnam is taking over at center after starting the last two seasons at right guard. Meanwhile, true freshman Blake Miller has soared to the top of the depth chart at right tackle for the time being, bumping junior Walker Parks inside to guard. Marcus Tate is back with a year of experience under his belt at left guard after starting eight games there last season.
But the majority of the group has been repping together since the spring. Miller, who’s in line to be the first true freshman to start a season opener at tackle for Clemson since 2015, has consistently repped with the first team since midway through preseason camp.
For a position where working in unison is key, that cohesion has drastically helped the line improve its communication, which McFadden said was “amazing” during camp.
“Last year, there was so much going on with injuries and everything, it was hard to get a set five out there the first couple of games,” McFadden said. “Just not being comfortable with everybody, but we’ve pretty much had the same five the whole camp. Moved a couple of people around, but me and Marcus are more comfortable with a year playing together and different things like that.
“I think, everybody, we’re just more cohesive, which makes a big difference in the o-line.”
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