Tag: Clemson offensive line

Swinney gives update on RG competition

A true freshman and a senior are competing to start at right guard for the Tigers this weekend.

Clemson’s starting right guard position remains a two-man race between true freshman Harris Sewell and senior Mitchell Mayes, head coach Dabo Swinney confirmed on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, Dabo Swinney said that Sewell and Mayes are still competing to run out with the first-team offense.

“They’ll both play. I don’t see a situation where they don’t both play,” Swinney said of Sewell and Mayes. “We’ll see who runs out there first.  They’ve got a long week ahead from a practice standpoint, but
excited about what Mitchell’s done. He didn’t play his best game a couple games ago, but Harris got a lot opportunity and, in the last game, took advantage of it. He did a great job, and we’re really excited about him and our OL in general and what we have the opportunity to produce there over these next couple of years.”

The Tigers have rotated Sewell and Mayes at the starting right guard spot over the last several games. Sewell, a true freshman, played 62 snaps in the Tigers’ last game against Wake Forest. Mayes, on the other hand, played eight snaps versus the Demon Deacons. While Sewell played far more snaps in Week 6, Mayes is still listed as the starter on the unofficial depth chart for Saturday’s game against Miami.

An opening was created at the right guard spot when Swinney declared Walker Parks out for the season with a lower-body injury, calling Parks’ injury “a huge loss” for his team. Parks started in all of the 13 games he appeared in during the 2022 season and was one of the most experienced linemen on Clemson’s roster.

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Swinney dishes on LT competition, a standout redshirt sophomore

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney touched on the LT competition, and had high praise for the current favorite to start in September.

Heading into fall camp, the one position along Clemson’s offensive line that had questions surrounding it was left tackle. Now nearly a week into fall camp, there is some clarity.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, head coach Dabo Swinney discussed Clemson’s left tackle competition and had high praise for redshirt sophomore Tristan Leigh, who has been starting in fall camp.

“I’ve been pretty pleased,” Swinney said of the left tackle competition. “We’re trying to create some competition there. I think Tristan has really held up well. You’ve heard me brag on him a bunch; I love everything about Tristan Leigh. He’s not perfect, but here’s what I love about him: there’s nobody that cares more than that guy. And if he makes a mistake, he usually doesn’t make it again.”

Standing at 6-foot-6 and 317 pounds, Leigh played 50 snaps last season as a reserve after playing only 20 as a true freshman.

Swinney’s comments on Wednesday come after offensive line coach Thomas Austin said in July that Leigh “pulled away a little bit” since the end of last season.

Right behind Leigh is redshirt freshman Collin Sadler, who played 23 snaps last season.

Sadler, a former four-star recruit, has also shined in camp thus far, according to Swinney.

“Really pleased with Collin Sadler,” Swinney said. “I’m super excited. It kind of worked out where he would’ve ended up playing last year, but he ended up getting hurt and was out… I’ll tell you what, man, him and Blake Miller in that group, that was two really good ones.”

The Tigers are in need of a new starting left tackle after Jordan McFadden departed for the NFL following the 2022 season.

Ultimately, Clemson will run out with the best starting five on the offensive line when the Tigers kick off their regular season against Duke on Sept. 4.

“We’ve tried to create as much tackle depth as we can,” Swinney added. “We feel good about where we are inside and all of the versatility. But we want to create three to five guys that we feel good about that can go play tackle for us.”

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Swinney and Austin discuss Clemson’s left tackle competition

Clemson will have a new starting left tackle this season after Jordan McFadden departed for the NFL.

Clemson’s coaches aren’t committing to a starter at left tackle heading into fall camp.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, head coach Dabo Swinney gave no firm timeline on when the team will announce a starting left tackle.

“I hope we have a long time before we decide because I hope it’s that competitive; I think it’s going to be,” Swinney said.

While Swinney didn’t assure any one specific player will start, he expressed his confidence in a redshirt sophomore to block Cade Klubnik’s blindside.

“If you told me Tristan Leigh was going to start for us at left tackle right now, I’m sleeping just fine. I got no problem with that,” Swinney said. “That guy, he’s a winner, and he cares. It’s amazing the transformation that has happened in him.”

As a true freshman in 2021, Leigh played 20 snaps while redshirting. Standing at 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds, he played 50 snaps last season as a reserve.

Clemson offensive line coach Thomas Austin was also non-committal and said the team could play multiple players early on in the year. But Austin did say that Leigh “pulled away a little bit” since the end of last season and has a slight advantage over redshirt freshman Collin Sadler.

“Nothin Collin didn’t do well; it’s just Tristan had a really good spring,” Austin said. “Those guys both have different skill sets and bring different things to the table.”

Jordan McFadden was the Tigers’ starting left tackle for the past two seasons before he left for the NFL.

Now, Clemson needs to find his replacement. And, ultimately, it will come down to who the best five is, Swinney said, even if that means shifting some of last year’s starters around to different spots.

“There are so many scenarios that could play out,” Swinney added. “But I will say this, regardless of how it all shakes as far as who will run out there Labor Day night, as far as the first five, I think this will be a year so different from years past. I think you’ll see us play probably 10 guys a game, minimum.”

If Clemson stays the course from last season, Marcus Tate will start at left guard, Will Putnam will start at center, Walker Parks will start at right guard and Blake Miller will start at right tackle.

At that point, the Tigers would just need to determine who runs out with the first team at the left tackle position.

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Mayes gets starting role on O-line: ‘He’s been begging for a shot and he got it’

After left guard Marcus Tate suffered a season-ending knee injury in the win over Miami last Saturday, a new starter will be fulfilling his position for this week’s rivalry game versus South Carolina. Junior offensive lineman Mitchell Mayes has been …

After left guard Marcus Tate suffered a season-ending knee injury in the win over Miami last Saturday, a new starter will be fulfilling his position for this week’s rivalry game versus South Carolina. Junior offensive lineman Mitchell Mayes has been a guy for Clemson who can come in and fulfill many different positions on the offensive line.

Mayes, who started at right guard for Walker Parks when Parks was out versus Louisville, hasn’t seen much playing time as a starter during his time at Clemson, but at a critical point in the season, it is time for the North Carolina native to step into a starting role.

Alongside Mayes on the offensive line this week is teammate and roommate Jordan McFadden. McFadden, a fifth-year senior, assessed Mayes’ performance last week and also shared that he has seen a growth in him as of recently. Being his roommate has allowed McFadden to witness the work that he puts in, both on the field and in the film room.

“Mitchell is a guy who’s been here for a while. He hasn’t necessarily played as much, but when Walker was out, Mitchell came in and played well,” McFadden said. “With Marcus getting hurt in the first quarter, and Mitchell came in and played well, that’s what you want. He’s been begging for a shot and he got it, and to come in and play well and to prepare each week not knowing if you are going to play or not is tough. I give kudos to Mitchell for that, not knowing if he was going to play Saturday or not, but he came in and did what he was supposed to do, and it was exciting to kind of see the growth of Mitchell from when he first got here to now.”

McFadden also emphasized that Mayes is prepared to step up and assume the starting role this weekend.

“I could tell in his face that he was ready to go,” McFadden said. “He had prepared, and we live together so it’s easy to stay on him to make sure he’s watching tape or whatever. He takes it serious, whether it be recovery, the film room. He prepares each week as if he is a starter. Knowing he was coming in, I told him that he’s fine, he did it the week before. He goes against the best guys in the country each day in practice.”

Brandon Streeter also shared his perspective on Mayes assuming a more critical role on offense this Saturday. The offensive coordinator expressed that the more playing time Mayes gets, the more he trusts and feels confident in his abilities when he enters the game.

“He did really good against Louisville,” Streeter said. “He had some mistakes, but for the most part he was very productive against Louisville. First start, I’m sure he had a lot of pressure on him to perform well. He came over very well against Miami. Again, he just showed us that we can be very comfortable with him in there. He’s just gaining confidence each week. He has done very, very well each week. Excited about him getting more and more opportunities, and that’s what this program is about: next-man-up mentality. That’s what he’s been able to do.”

Four-star OL recruit flips back to Tigers

Clemson lands its second offensive tackle of the 2023 recruiting class with Owen’s re-commitment on Tuesday.

A 2023 recruit has decided to stay with Clemson following his decision last week to pursue other options.

Four-star offensive tackle Zechariah Owens announced via Twitter on Tuesday that he had  re-committed to the Tigers despite decommiting last week due to family reasons prior to his visit at Florida State for their matchup with Clemson. The Peach State native had originally verbally committed to the Tigers back on July 5 after attending junior day last spring.

“After a long time thinking, praying and reconsidering my family and I have decided that I will stay and continue to be committed to Clemson University,” Owens said. “I want to thank the Clemson coaching staff and my fellow teammates for sticking beside me through this and also I want to thank everyone for reaching out to my family and I through this process, but with that being said I’m 1000% ALLIN #GOTIGERS”

The 6-foot-7, 365 pound early enrollee out of McDonough, Georgia (Eagle’s Landing Christian) is a huge addition to the Tigers 2023 class, becoming the No. 20 overall commit and the second offensive tackle (Ian Reed) to join the Tigers latest class, which is currently ranked eighth overall in the nation by 247 Sports.

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Clemson Tigers Snapshot Profile: No. 64 Walker Parks

Parks was one of just four Tigers on both offense and defense to start all 13 games last season.

Heading into the 2022 season, ClemsonWire will look at multiple players on the Clemson football roster.

Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school and what role they will play for head coach Dabo Swinney this season.

For this profile, we will take a closer look at offensive lineman Walker Parks.

Parks enters his third season with the Tigers after earning the starting role at right tackle back in 2021. The offensive tackle was one of just four Tigers on both offense and defense last season to start all 13 games.

In his rookie season back in 2020, Parks earned ESPN Freshman All-America honors as a key reserve player for the Tigers.

Here’s a snapshot look at Walker Parks.

Clemson Tigers Snapshot Profile: No. 77 Mitchell Mayes

Mayes enters his junior season with some competition at the right tackle position.

Heading into the 2022 season, ClemsonWire will look at multiple players on the Clemson football roster.

Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school and what role they will play for head coach Dabo Swinney this season.

For this profile, we will take a closer look at offensive lineman Mitchell Mayes.

Mayes enters his third season with the Tigers having appeared in 12 games and recording 164 snaps over the course of his freshman and sophomore campaigns. With the official depth charts for Clemson’s season opener against Georgia Tech released on Tuesday, the right tackle will be competing for snaps with highly-touted freshman Blake Miller.

Here’s a snapshot look at Mitchell Mayes.

Former Tiger sees ‘a totally different’ Clemson o-line entering ’22

When he’s watched Clemson’s offensive line in preseason practice this yea, a former Tiger offensive lineman has seen a much different group than that of a season ago. Last year, based on what he saw in the preseason, Eric Mac Lain expected Clemson’s …

When he’s watched Clemson’s offensive line in preseason practice this yea, a former Tiger offensive lineman has seen a much different group than that of a season ago.

Last year, based on what he saw in the preseason, Eric Mac Lain expected Clemson’s O-line to struggle. And indeed, the O-line experienced its share of struggles in 2021.

But this year, Mac Lain is a lot more optimistic about the Tigers up front on offense heading into 2022.

“I’m just excited about the growth,” Mac Lain said of the O-line. “They moved some guys around, they’re putting folks in different positions. They’re feeling really good about the first five they run out there, and they just look like a totally different unit. I mean, a year ago, remember – it’s still against this defensive line, and last year, they just couldn’t handle it. It was every other play, DJ (Uiagalelei)’s getting hit. They can’t run the ball, can’t do anything, and it’s just like, man, this is gonna be tough.”

Mac Lain — who played at Clemson from 2011-15 and was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2015 — added that he’s seen the unit winning matchups in practice against the Tigers’ elite defensive line.

“This year, I see them going against those same guys – and again, some folks moved around, a couple new faces – and they’re winning reps,” he said. “It’s much more 50-50.”

Freshman lineman a frontrunner to start against Georgia Tech

Clemson’s starting offensive line personnel has begun to solidify.

Clemson could roll out with a freshman lineman starting on offense against Georgia Tech.

According to offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter, if Clemson were to play this week, Blake Miller would start at right tackle.

At 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds, Miller has impressed Streeter since he first arrived in the spring and reminds the coaches of a former Tiger who started as a freshman in 2015.

“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. 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.”

Coming out of Strongsville High School (Strongsville, Ohio), Miller was a four-star recruit and the No. 16 offensive tackle in the class of 2022, according to 247Sports Composite rankings.

While there is no official depth chart yet, Clemson’s starting offensive line from left to right now figures to be Jordan McFadden, Marcus Tate, Will Putnam, Walker Parks and Miller.

“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.”

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McFadden ‘super confident’ in Clemson O-line, says to expect a ‘nasty’ group this fall

Clemson’s offensive line was the subject of criticism last season, some warranted, and there was a lot of negativity surrounding the unit up front on the Tigers’ offense that ranked in the middle of the pack in the ACC in rushing offense (168 yards …

Clemson’s offensive line was the subject of criticism last season, some warranted, and there was a lot of negativity surrounding the unit up front on the Tigers’ offense that ranked in the middle of the pack in the ACC in rushing offense (168 yards per game) but allowed only 21 sacks (second fewest in the conference).

The offensive line wasn’t the most stable position for Clemson a season ago, and head coach Dabo Swinney admitted this spring that the functional depth the Tigers lacked last year “was a disaster.”

While there is still some lingering questions about the group going into the 2022 season, Swinney has said he feels good about the development of the line and thinks the Tigers will have more functional players at the position this season if they can stay healthy. He went so far as to say in the spring that he thinks Clemson’s offensive line is the position group that will pleasantly surprise people this season, even though the unit caught a lot of flak for its performance last season.

Jordan McFadden, an all-conference player at left tackle a season ago, knows the Tigers’ O-line play wasn’t up to par in 2021 and needs to be better in order for Clemson to recapture the ACC Championship and return to the College Football Playoff this season.

But McFadden expressed confidence in the personnel the Tigers have along the trenches offensively, when asked about the mindset of the O-line coming off last year and heading into the upcoming campaign.

“Last year, we didn’t play to our standard, play to the standard of Clemson Football,” McFadden said during an appearance on ACC Network at the 2022 ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte this week. “We had a bunch of moving parts, a bunch of injuries, different things like that. I know this year, guys got another year under their belt. They’re getting bigger, more knowledgeable, and I think everybody’s just super excited to put on display the work we’ve put in. I know I’m super confident in the guys I have in my room, and I’m super excited for this season.”

Clemson is set on the edges with the redshirt senior McFadden at left tackle and rising junior Walker Parks on the right side, but the interior is where things are still in some flux along a line that saw eight different starting combinations a season ago. The Tigers have had more attrition than they expected at center, so Will Putnam took reps there this spring, while Mitchell Mayes, Trent Howard, Bryn Tucker and John Williams competed at right guard in case Putnam remains at center. True sophomore Marcus Tate remains at the top of the depth chart at left guard for now, and the Tigers also have other younger offensive linemen that Swinney is high on like true freshmen Blake Miller and Collin Sadler as well as redshirt freshmen Ryan Linthicum, Tristan Leigh and Dietrick Pennington.

How it all shakes out for the Tigers on the offensive line remains to be seen. But McFadden says Clemson fans can expect to see a “nasty” group go to work and play together as a unit this fall.

“Definitely more cohesion, a group that’s playing nasty, and just a group who cares about their teammates and wants to play their best – not just for the team, but for the fans and everybody else watching,” McFadden said when asked what can be expected from the O-line in 2022. “So, a group who cares and loves to play football.”

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