Clemson appeared to be heading into the spring with four of its five starting offensive linemen from last season back in the fold.
That was before news broke Thursday that Hunter Rayburn will be hanging up his cleats after neck stingers resulted in a medical disqualification for the redshirt sophomore. Rayburn will remain involved with the program as a student coach, but his unavailability as a player may be the biggest blow for an offensive line that had its issues at times a season ago, particularly on the interior.
Matt Bockhorst’s career as a Tiger is also over, but Clemson got some significant work at left guard for others this past season. Even before the fifth-year senior tore his ACL against Pittsburgh in late October, true freshman Marcus Tate started four games at that spot with Bockhorst starting the season at center. Tate ended the season with eight starts at left guard and is the presumed starter there heading into next season, joining left tackle Jordan McFadden, right tackle Walker Parks and right guard Will Putnam as starters up front.
But with Rayburn’s playing career at Clemson cut short, that means the Tigers are losing their top two centers from last season. Rayburn, who played in 19 games in three seasons, made his first six starts this past season and ended it as the starting center.
It leaves fellow sophomore Mason Trotter as the only player on the roster that’s started a game at center. Trotter started the most games among the trio at the position last season (5), though that was primarily because of injuries and other attrition that kept the door revolving on the interior of the line for much of the season.
As far as in-house candidates go, the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Trotter finds himself as the most experienced option at the position, though that’s not saying a lot given he’s only got seven career starts to his name. Trent Howard and redshirt freshman Ryan Linthicum, a former blue-chip recruit, figure to factor more prominently into the competition this spring, too.
Clemson could also ratchet up its search for a starting center in the transfer portal, which is where an option currently outside of the program would likely come from at this point given the timing of Rayburn’s departure. Both the early and traditional signing periods for the 2022 recruiting cycle have come and gone without the Tigers inking any interior offensive linemen.
With the majority of high school prospects already signed to their school of choice, the transfer portal is a more viable option if Clemson coach Dabo Swinney isn’t comfortable with what he’s already got on the roster, which, based on the Tigers’ involvement in the portal already, could be the case. Former Clemson and Northwestern quarterback Hunter Johnson is the only transfer the Tigers have signed in the 2022 class, but Clemson has also offered multiple interior offensive linemen in the portal, an indication Swinney may have already known about Rayburn’s situation.
A portal addition would also help bring more experience to a position that’s suddenly a darker shade of green. Decisions, decisions for Swinney and his coaching staff at one of the most important spots up front.
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