Where Chris Denson Stands in Quarterback Depth Chart Following Clemson's Spring Game

In the first half of Clemson football’s spring game on Saturday, there was a caveat to all of the quarterbacks that were seen in the opening 30 minutes of play.

Four signal-callers saw snaps: Christopher Vizzina, Tait Reynolds, Brock Bradley and Trent Pearman. That did not include redshirt freshman Chris Denson, who entered the spring as a contender to take Vizzina’s spot on the offense.

Head coach Dabo Swinney was asked about this after the scrimmage on Saturday, and he put it bluntly.

“We came out of spring, CV one and Tait’s two. It’s not close,” he said. “Those two guys separated, and that’s where we are.”

While going down the depth chart, he spoke highly of Denson, who “is as physically gifted as anybody we got.” However, there’s a quality that he is missing that the other quarterbacks had to allow them to surpass the Plant City, Florida, native.

Unfortunately, it’s the fundamental rule of being a quarterback.

“[He’s] just not where he needs to be, you know, from a passing game standpoint to compete like he needs to,” Swinney said. “So, if he stays at quarterback, because I think the guy’s got a decision to make. If he stays at quarterback, he will play for us.”

The decision falls on Denson, who Swinney says will “have to buy into that” if that’s a choice that he ends up making. However, the Clemson head coach said that there is still opportunity to play on the starting offense, regardless of where he would be.

“He’ll help us because, again, he’s got a unique skillset that we can use, but, just limited in the pass game right now with where he is developmentally, and I think he’ll keep getting better,” he said.

“But, you know, we play in five months, and we’ve got to keep moving, and we've got to put the team in position to go win,” Swinney added, “and there’s no question coming out of spring that CV and Tait are the two guys that give us the best chance.”

In the spring game, Denson finished with three passing yards and a loss of eight yards on a carry. He completed two of his five attempts, but games from the past show how good he can be for Clemson.

Just look at the Furman game last season, where he rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown while throwing for 22 yards and a passing score. That’s the potential he can have, but if he continues to remain towards the bottom of the depth chart, only time will tell if a position change is what happens.

Regardless, Denson will remain an important piece of this Clemson offense in years to come.

“Like I said, if he wants to stay at quarterback, he can stay at quarterback, and we’re going to use him,” Swinney said. “We’ll use him at quarterback. If he wants to move and he decides that, we’ll talk about that, but that’ll be his decision.”