Clemson Football: Can Bryan Bresee become a starter as a freshman?

Could Clemson football freshman DL Bryan Bresee earn a starting position along one of the deepest defensive lines in the country?

The 2020 Clemson football team has one of the deepest defensive lines in the country heading into the season.

The Tigers return a plethora of talented veterans including: Nyles Pinckney, Tyler Davis, K.J. Henry, Xavier Thomas, Justin Foster, Justin Mascoll and Jordan Williams to name a few.

With that amount of talent already returning, one wouldn’t think that a freshman would have much of a chance to compete for playing time, much less start for the Clemson football program.

But that shouldn’t be assumed when it comes to DL Bryan Bresee.

Bresee is going to be faced with having to fully beat out a veteran to earn a starting spot and that obviously won’t be easy to do. Bresee is slated to play inside at defensive tackle, but there is thought that he could also move outside at times and play defensive end, depending on the set and scheme.

That being said, the question is simple: Could the talented 5-star freshman earn a starting job?

The more that I watch Bresee’s film and hear about his performance in the spring, the more I’m convinced that he will- without a doubt- play significant snaps this year and he’ll have the opportunity to compete for starter-level reps.

Right now, it seems that Bresee will be splitting time with Nyles Pinckney at one of those defensive tackle positions and I do think we could see a situation, especially later in the season, where the two are considered co-starters.

Bresee provides a great amount of athleticism and physicality to the position that is just unlike anything we’ve seen in quite some time. He’s been compared to J.J. Watt for a reason and there’s no way that we won’t see him on the field making an impact with the Clemson football team this season.