Clemson Football: TE JC Chalk will make a major impact in 2019

Clemson football TE JC Chalk has an opportunity to make an impact in his redshirt junior season for the Tigers with depth dwindling at the position.

Just a couple of weeks, the NCAA announced that it would uphold the suspensions of Clemson football players Zach Giella and Braden Galloway after they- along with Dexter Lawrence- tested positive for trace amounts of Ostarine in their system prior to the CFB Playoff.

Though Galloway can return after the one-year suspension, Giella is no longer listed on the Clemson football roster because 2019 was his final year of eligibility.

With Galloway gone, there is a void at the tight end position. The Tigers already lost Garrett Williams (who chose to begin his career in the military), as well as Milan Richard and Cannon Smith to graduation.

That only leaves three scholarship tight ends: JC Chalk (redshirt junior), Jaelyn Lay (true-freshman) and Davis Allen (true-freshman).

By looking at the classifications of the three tight ends, you should have an educated guess at who will get the first opportunity to earn the starting spot at the position.

For the past couple of seasons, Chalk has been a reserve that has seen limited action to say the least. He has played just 151 snaps in 24 career games, totaling four catches for 40 yards.

Though he hasn’t been seen on the field all that often, it’s clear that he’s ready to make his mark. If you look back at film, you can see that Chalk is a willing blocker and a pretty talented pass-catcher. He’s not going to blow anyone away with his speed and athleticism, but he has actually improved in athleticism since joining the Clemson football program three years ago.

Chalk will be asked to be a key-blocker in the Tigers’ run game and also to catch passes in short routes every now and then. The key for him getting on the field is going to be if he can have success getting open in the routes. He has the hands to make the catch when thrown to him, but has to be able to get open to be effective.

Chalk will be used in that “H-Back” role quite a bit, in my opinion, and it’s clear that we’re going to see him on the field for the Tigers in 2019. The veteran will, without a doubt, have an opportunity to make an impact.