Clemson Coaching Staff Always Had High Expectations for Offensive Line

Despite the fact that the top-ranked Tigers had to replace four starters along the offensive line from last years team that made it all the way to the national title game, offensive coordinator Tony Elliott still had the highest of expectations of his revamped group coming into the 2020 season.

Two games into the season and the revamped Clemson offensive line has played pretty close to flawless.

Coming into the season, the Clemson coaching staff was tasked with having to replace four of the five starters from last season's team that made it all the way to the national title game and on the surface that would appear concerning. 

All four new faces up front were battle-tested though, due in part to the way Clemson rotates players, and that has made for a fairly smooth transition. Offensive coordinator Tony Elliott says he never had any doubts about this group and that he's always had the highest of expectations for the Tigers' new-look offensive line. 

"I think that we all had high expectations for the offensive line," Tony Elliott said on Monday. "Just because we knew the quality of men that we had, the experience that they had. but I think the thing that's refreshing and encouraging is just to see it come to life."

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There is no question that the Tigers starting offensive line is littered with elite-level talent. Jackson Carman, Matt Bockhorst, and Will Putnam were all highly touted players coming out of high school, and with Cade Stewart and Jordan McFadden having both developed into high-level players, Elliott thinks the Tigers starting group has the potential to be really special.

"I think we've talked a lot about this unit having an opportunity to be one of the better units that we've had," Elliott said. "We've had some really good units, offensive line-wise, over the past several years, but just seeing those guys set the tempo, or the leadership that they're bringing doesn't surprise me, but it is encouraging to see that really come to light. Because we all felt like that was going to be the case."

Another thing that Clemson has up front this season is depth. While there may not be a lot of experience in that second group of offensive linemen, it certainly isn't short on talent. 

Two games into the season and the backup offensive line is definitely still a work in progress. However, with each passing week, they get better and Elliott knows the further they get into the season, the more they are going to have to rely on some of those players. 

"Then another thing that we all knew was the depth on the offensive line is inexperienced, very talented," Elliott said. "But it's been good to get an opportunity to kind of see some of that depth start to develop and then also have opportunities to show us where we need to continue to develop and grow with some of those guys that we're going to need down the stretch."

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