Clemson QB Christopher Vizzina Left Out of Signature Position Watchlists

For years, being the quarterback of the Clemson Tigers was one of the most prestigious privileges to have in college football. After the 2025 season, perhaps there’s a need to bring that honor back.

Last week, the 2026 Davey O’Brien Award Preseason Watch List was released, with the 2026 Manning Award Preseason Watch List also revealed. Expected Clemson starting quarterback Christopher Vizzina was left off both lists.

The 30-man and 40-man lists, respectively, did feature plenty of other quarterbacks from the ACC, however. Four were put on both, headlined by SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings and Miami’s Darian Mensah. Other names, like Duke’s Walker Eget and Pitt’s Mason Heintschel, were interesting additions to the Manning list.

Perhaps there are arguments for both sides of whether Vizzina should have been on the lists or not. After all, the Clemson quarterback has only seen one start in a significant game, which ended in a home loss to Jennings and SMU.

Despite all of the criticism and the rumblings of a transfer quarterback during this past offseason, head coach Dabo Swinney believes that the fourth-year quarterback deserves his chance to make significant strides for the Tigers in 2026.

“This was a highly recruited kid who bought into the vision, who bought into the development process,” Swinney said back in January. “We offer two quarterbacks in that class, and this kid has done everything. . .he’s performed well and shown development.”

After all, the other quarterback offered from the 2023 cycle for the Tigers was Arch Manning, who is now the Heisman frontrunner at Texas.

Of course, Swinney hasn’t announced an official starter yet for Clemson’s matchup with No. 11 LSU in under two weeks, as true freshman Tait Reynolds has made a name for himself throughout spring and fall camp. Reynolds’s name is not mentioned, either, but no freshman is listed in either shortlist.

The omissions make for a potentially strong response for Vizzina, a redshirt junior, who waited behind multiple-year starter Cade Klubnik. A year ago today, Klubnik was among the favorites for the Heisman Trophy and the Tigers were the No. 4 team in the country.

365 days later, the complete opposite occurred. However, some argue those are the best Clemson teams: those that aren’t talked about to begin the season. Vizzina understands his position as well.

“This is when people want to see the product of three years, and I feel like I’ve been able to put that on display,” he said last week.

Only time will tell to see if the redshirt junior will prove the media doubters wrong, and he will have the opportunities to do so. One thing is for certain, however: Swinney will be in his corner the entire time.

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