From Injuries to Expectations: Bresee and Davis Playing 'At Another Level'
The depth in the trenches for Clemson alone is enough to keep opponents awake at night in 2021.
With versatility and numbers all over the defensive line, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney quickly pointed to two spring standouts when speaking with media in early March.
In only their second season together, the two interior linemen have stepped their game up this spring and are primed to wreak havoc on the ACC undoubtedly, and potentially all college football.
"Tyler Davis and (Bryan) Bresee are at another level," Swinney said. "I mean those guys, they're having some of their best practices that I've seen them have since they've been here."
Bresee entered Clemson as a true freshman last season, and after injuries for Tyler Davis throughout the year, Bresee took advantage with ease.
Finishing second in voting for ACC Rookie of the Year in 2020, just behind his edge-rushing teammate Myles Murphy, Bresee started 10 of 12 games for the Tigers last year with 432 snaps played.
"I got improve in the run game and work on my technique in general, you know College Football is a lot faster than high school," Bresee said to Clemson media at the beginning of March.
"I need to start reading backfield sets better. Just a lot of pre-snap stuff, and also, just like I said, my technique, I need to improve getting things down quicker."
Davis only managed seven games played for Clemson last year. Davis still impacted the Tigers' defense in a limited time, with only 1.5 fewer tackles for loss on the season than Bresee and 236 snaps separating them.
"I was very proud of Bryan and how he played," Davis said. "You know he really got better throughout the season, better throughout the whole year."
With Bresee back for his second season and Davis returning fully healthy after a year of what he called 'nicks and bruises,' the two are set to cause some of the most havoc in the FBS.
Bresee grabbed 33 total tackles in his first year as a Tiger to go along with 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. In limited time played during 2020, Davis totaled 17 tackles, five tackles for loss, and two sacks.
"(Tyler) has always been a big help to me from when I first got here," Bresee said. "It's like having another coach with you. You know, when you're in the film room or on the field, he's super knowledgeable about the game. So, especially when he was out, and I was filling in and taking a lot of snaps, he was always there. After games, we would go and watch film together and see what I had to work on, what I didn't do well, what I did well...It's just like having another coach on the field with you."
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