Clemson Football Redshirt Report: Justin Mascoll, Defensive End

We continue our Clemson football redshirt report with a look at talented defensive end Justin Mascoll and his ability to make an impact in 2019.

Throughout the week, we’ve been giving our Clemson football redshirt report.

We’ve taken a look at several true-freshmen who redshirted and a couple of juniors- Cornell Powell and Jamie Skalski- who chose to redshirt to save a year of eligibility.

Today, we continue our redshirt report with a look at defensive end Justin Mascoll and what his role may look like as the Tigers attempt to repeat at National Champions in 2019.

Analysis:

When I watch Justin Mascoll’s film, I see a guy that has the ability to be an elite defensive end before it’s all said and done.

Mascoll has the footwork to break off blockers, but he prefers to just overpower his block. On most occasions, he’s certainly able to do that.

Mascoll will, most likely, play that defensive end spot where Austin Bryant left. He has the ability to set a hard-edge and will be really effective in stopping the run. He has good eyes and is able to locate the ball-carrier and find a way to get to him.

Where does he fit?

Mascoll will be competing with guys like KJ Henry, Justin Foster, Logan Rudolph and Xavier Thomas for playing time in 2019.

That’s a lot of talent, but I still feel like he’ll find a way to get on the field some and factor into the two or three deep.

Right now, I’d say the defensive end pecking order is as follows: Xavier Thomas on one side and Justin Foster on the other side. KJ Henry is probably the second-string behind Foster and Rudolph is behind Thomas.

I could see Mascoll competing with Rudolph and perhaps finding a way to become a co-backup before it’s all said and done.