These Two Clemson Tigers Are Contending For Blake Miller's Role At Right Tackle

After losing their career leader in snaps, the Clemson Tigers have a duo who are competing for the starting role at right tackle.

Clemson offensive lineman Collin Sadler (50) underwent shoulder surgery and missed a majority of the 2026 spring. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

It’s difficult to be the guy after guy who set records, but somebody has to do it for the Clemson Tigers next season on the offensive line. 

Right tackle Blake Miller started 54 games for the program across his four seasons and left Clemson as the all-time leader in snaps with 3,778. Adding three All-ACC selections to his name as well, Miller leaves the program as a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, going to the Detroit Lions. 

Those are big shoes to fill for the rest of the group, but the Tigers have two candidates who will look to fill that role in 2026. Matt Luke spoke about it on Tuesday during the Clemson football media outing on campus. 

“I think Collin Sadler is an option there,” he said. “Easton Ware is an option there.”

The exciting part about this position battle is that these two players come from completely different backgrounds with the Tigers. 

Experience favors Sadler, who comes into 2026 having played 1,291 career snaps across 28 games. He’s started in 15 of those games, but a majority of them were at guard, while the others were at left tackle. He had nine of those starts last season, playing both positions. 

He also brings experience from 2023 as a redshirt freshman, which allowed Sadler to get a leg up on other candidates for the position before other classes joined the program. 

“Collin is very, very athletic,” Luke said. “He’s very physical, and he really has silently played a lot of football; he had played before I got here. So, he’s a guy that can play multiple positions and is a leader.” 

On the other hand, Ware hasn’t played a single snap for the program. However, the redshirt freshman was out for the entire year with a shoulder injury that he sustained during Clemson’s fall camp in August. 

However, he was a top 10 player from the state of Virginia, hailing from Lynchburg. Another positive about his game is that he played at Liberty Christian Academy, the same school that starting running back Gideon Davidson played at. Ware was a key blocker who helped him earn his Gatorade Player of the Year honor in high school. 

The battle isn’t over just yet, with both players expected to see snaps in 2026 on a changed offensive line from last season. The Tigers will have two intersquad scrimmages before going to LSU Week 1, and then decisions will be made. 

“You don’t have preseason games, like the NFL, so you got two full scrimmages to really figure it out,” Luke said. “So, really, by that second scrimmage and you’re talking about 16, 17 practices in, you have a pretty good idea.”

Only time will tell, but it will be a tough ask for whoever it is to be the type of player that Miller was from 2022-25.