Spring Review: Offensive Line Getting Better

CLEMSON, S.C. — It all depends on how one might look at the situation. You are either a glass half full kind of guy or a glass half empty.

Dabo Swinney likes to look at a glass and say it is halfway full of water. And that is definitely how Clemson’s head coach is looking at his center position.

Though the Tigers have other concerns, too, on the offensive line. Center was their biggest worry heading into the spring, especially with their two most experienced centers unable to play this coming fall.

Clemson began the spring with the news that Hunter Rayburn retired from football due to medical issues to his neck. Mason Trotter, who started seven games at center in 2021, is going to be ineligible for much of the upcoming season due to undisclosed reasons.

To answer the problem, the coaches moved Will Putnam, who started 22 two games the last two seasons at right guard, to center.

“Putnam needed all the work because he is going to be our starter going in,” Swinney said. “He has had a really good spring. We have gotten done what we needed to get done. He has played so much football. This guy is a really good player.

“But to make that move is not easy, especially when it is not something you have done. I am really proud of him.”

Redshirt freshman Ryan Linthicum also got a lot of work, as well as redshirt sophomore Trent Howard.

“We are in a lot better place today than we were when we started spring ball, and that is what we hoped,” Swinney said. “We will keep moving forward. I am proud of Trent. I think Trent has improved. I am proud of Ryan.”

In the Spring Game, Clemson had a couple of communication issues with the hard count between freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik and Linthicum, who is a redshirt freshman this coming season.

“Again, this is a high school senior that just got here and a kid that is a true freshman that really haven’t played. So, that will be good for them,” Swinney said.

Swinney feels good about what Clemson was able to get done on the entire offensive line, as a whole this spring, though there is still work to do

“We got a good group,” he said. “We got work to do between now and Labor Day. But I think we will be a lot better than we were this time last year.”

Clemson kicks off the 2022 season against Georgia Tech on Labor Day Night, as part of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta.

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