Clemson Football: Jackson Carman is ready for the challenge

Clemson football offensive tackle Jackson Carman is ready for the challenge. The sophomore will be heavily relied upon in 2019.

We’ve all talked about the losses that Clemson football will suffer after the 2018 season.

Typically, we talk about guys like Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, Austin Bryant, Tre Lamar, Kendall Joseph and Trayvon Mullen.

But, there’s one guy that leaves Clemson football as one of the best offensive tackles in school history that we don’t mention near enough.

Mitch Hyatt had a storied career with the Tigers, basically playing from day one. He finished his career as the all-time leader in snaps played and certainly left his mark on Clemson football.

Filling Hyatt’s shoes at that left tackle position will be a huge deal in 2019. Hyatt was consistent and played very well in 2018, blocking and giving Trevor Lawrence time to find the open man without having to worry about his blindside.

Now taking over that spot will be sophomore Jackson Carman.

Carman, who played sparingly as a true-freshman in 2018, really gained some valuable experience learning under Hyatt and playing in some big moments this season as a freshman. He continued to improve and, by the end of the season, we were getting rave reports about his performance and how far he had come.

That’s a really good sign for Clemson football moving forward.

For the Tigers to be successful, they’re going to need the offensive line to be solid. I think Carman is more than solid. In my opinion, he’s elite.

Carman has the size, strength, athleticism and ability to be a first-round draft pick in the NFL Draft two years from now. It all will depend on his work ethic.

The truth of the matter is that he has more upside than Mitch Hyatt. He’s got all the intangibles and measurables to be a dominant offensive lineman.

The only question is: Is he up to the challenge?