Clemson Seeing Opportunity At Offensive Line For Young Standout

With bowl season comes opt-outs for a team’s given game, and the Clemson Tigers have experienced that already with their game 10 days out.

Dec. 27 is the Pinstripe Bowl against Penn State, and the team is already down 27 players who were on scholarship, whether from injury, transfer portal or NFL Draft opt out. With that, it does bring opportunity for some young players, especially on the offensive line.

Clemson will be without five players on the offensive line, with four having at least one start over the course of this season. The Tigers will be without Brayden Jacobs, Elyjah Thurmon, Walker Parks and Collin Sadler, meaning there will be opportunity on the line for new faces to make an impact.

Redshirt freshman Ronan O’Connell will be the next man up to be an expected starter on the offensive line for the Pinstripe Bowl, and many players have faith in him.

One of those players is right tackle Blake Miller, who will make his 42nd start on the offensive line in what is set to be his last game. He spoke very highly of O’Connell in his media availability on Wednesday.

“I have all the faith in the world in Ronan,” Miller said. “You know, I see him do it day in and day out in practice. And then, also too, the eagerness he has to, you know, learn from us older guys and he’s very good at taking feedback and always wanting to get better and better every day.”

O’Connell redshirted in the 2024 season after only seeing seven total snaps, but he’s seen time in five games this season as the offensive line has been depleted with injury. He played 17 snaps against SMU and a career-high 25 against Furman, playing as a guard over the course of the season.

Now, in Clemson’s postseason practices, he has been the left guard on the starting line, joining Tristan Leigh, Ryan Linthicum, Harris Sewell and Miller on the line, respectively. Fellow redshirt freshman, Ian Reed, also saw starting snaps in practice.

Miller is excited to see the knowledge that his teammate has soaked up over the last two seasons come into fruition, saying he has the knowledge of a “bigger understanding than just what you’re doing.”

“He approaches practice with the right mindset,” the senior said. “That, to me, is really big. Then, two, he just understands, you know, the offense. He understands what we’re trying to accomplish offensively and, you know, that to me is also big.”

O’Connell was only a three-star product from the Class of 2024, according to 247Sports, but has put that raw talent into progress through practice. He is also a wrestler for Page High School, using that strength to power his way to a second place finish in the state of Tennessee at the 285-pound limit as a junior.

As Clemson prepares for an exciting matchup with the Nittany Lions, the Franklin, Tennessee, native will look to bring more cohesion to this offensive line in his audition. Once thing is for certain: Miller will be rooting for him, three spots away on the line.

“I think he has all those things in order,” he said. “So, I’m excited to watch him, you know, go out there and play, and I think he’s going to do awesome.”