ESPN Announcer Says OL 'is in Serious Trouble'; D.J. is no DW or TL

ESPN announcer Tom Luginbill joined ESPN's Paul Finebaum and started his analysis with a damning thought on the Tigers' offensive line.

Clemson has a couple of big issues that they need to address post-haste if they are going to make a return to the playoff in 2021—at least according to ESPN announcer Tom Luginbill.

Luginbill joined ESPN's Paul Finebaum and started his analysis with a damning thought on the Tigers' offensive line.

"Clemson’s offensive line is in serious trouble,” Luginbill said. “And if you actually studied Clemson and you went back to last year and you watched them the last four or five weeks of the season, they were not very good upfront. I would say they were below average. And you couple that issue with the fact that you’re breaking in a true freshman tailback (Will Shipley), you’re having to replace Amari Rodgers, replace Travis Etienne, replace Trevor Lawrence. You’ve got these wide receivers that are coming back to you, but they’re not seasoned yet. They may be talented.”

However, Luginbill did not stop with the offensive line. He continued his analysis with quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei—who he believes is a problem because he is not as good of a passer as two former Tiger signal-callers.

“In my opinion — and again, not to make a knee-jerk reaction, but I’m going back a little way, I’m going back to high school here with D.J. — D.J.’s not the same innately accurate passer that either Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson was,” Luginbill said. “That’s plain and simple. So, you add problems upfront to a guy that’s not innately accurate, then you’re going to have some problems. And defensively might be able to carry them, but until they get that offensive line fixed, you’re going to continue to see some struggles out of the Clemson offense.”

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