What was strongly trending in a particular direction for Clemson’s offensive line coming out of the spring is now official.
Clemson will have a new starting center to begin the 2022 season, though it won’t be an addition from the transfer portal. Instead, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney confirmed senior Will Putnam is “definitely our starter” heading into fall camp, which will begin for the Tigers on Aug. 5.
“There’s no question about that,” Swinney said. “He had a great spring and did a heck of a job.”
It doesn’t come as much of a surprise after Putnam, who’s started 22 games at guard for the Tigers, made the move at the beginning of the spring. Putnam spent most of the spring as the No. 1 option at a position that’s been fluid since the beginning of last season.
Veteran Matt Bockhorst also made the move from guard to center last season but had his season cut short because of injury and has moved on from football. Hunter Rayburn stepped in to start a handful of games there but was dealt a medical disqualification earlier this offseason after dealing with head and neck injuries. And Swinney reiterated he didn’t know how many games Mason Trotter, who’s practicing but not playing for undisclosed reasons, would miss this fall.
With his top three centers from last season no longer available, Swinney said during the spring the position was one he would look to bolster through the portal with a newcomer who was capable of stepping in immediately as a starter, and the Tigers swung and missed on at least a couple of transfer targets there. But Swinney changed his tune coming out of the spring after watching Putnam in action at his new position, noting not only Putnam’s command of the offense but also his ability to keep the errant snaps to a minimum.
“I’m in a whole different state of mind right now than I was going into spring ball,” Swinney said of the position in the weeks following the conclusion of spring practices.
Swinney said he also feels as good as he can about the depth behind Putnam. Redshirt freshman Ryan Linthicum, a former blue-chip recruit, is in a “totally different place” in his development after missing his senior year of high school because of the coronavirus pandemic, Swinney said. Swinney added Trent Howard is entering his third year in the program as a more functional option on the interior of the line after the sophomore dealt with various illnesses last season.
“Linthicum, Trent and Putnam, all of those guys can play center and guard,” Swinney said. “So we like that group right there, and we’ll see if we can add somebody in there. But there’s no question on who the starter is. It was certainly good confirmation in the spring of what we thought we’d see out of (Putnam).”
