Clemson Football: Comparing 2020 QB room to last three seasons

Comparing the current Clemson football QB room over the last three seasons

The Clemson football program has seen an enormous amount of success at the quarterback position for quite some time under the leadership of Dabo Swinney.

Perhaps no one has recruited the position better than the Clemson football program and there’s reason to believe that the Tigers will take another step forward this season.

As we prepare for the 2020 Clemson football season, Rubbing the Rock will take a look at each positional group and give you a year-by-year comparison and rankings with the last three seasons.

Today, let’s start with the quarterbacks.

Comparing the Clemson football QB rooms by year, beginning with 2017

2017 Quarterback Room

The 2017 QB room featured a three-way battle for the starting position between Kelly Bryant, Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson.

Bryant eventually won the position and guided the Tigers to a solid season that included an ACC Championship and a berth in the CFB Playoff. While the depth and talent seemed solid at the position, the woes were shown in the Syracuse loss when Bryant went out with an injury.

Both Cooper and Johnson would transfer following the 2017 season.

2018 Quarterback Room

Many forget Cooper and Johnson transferred before fall camp of the 2018 season. That was because Bryant was returning as a starter and an incoming freshman by the name of Trevor Lawrence had already taken the program by storm.

Bryant and Lawrence shared time- with Bryant as the starter- in the first four games, but Lawrence won the job in Game 4 of the season against Georgia Tech and was named the starter the next week. Bryant elected to transfer and Lawrence was injured against Syracuse, but Chase Brice (who was the third-string coming into the season) stepped in and led the Tigers to a come-from-behind victory.

Lawrence and Brice proved to be a dynamic QB duo and the Tigers went on to win the National Championship.

2019 Quarterback Room

The 2019 QB room featured Trevor Lawrence returning as the starter and Chase Brice returning as the second-stringer.

Though Lawrence had some struggles, there was no doubt that the experience and depth of this unit would be on display during the season.

2020 Quarterback Room

This season’s team features a returning starter in Trevor Lawrence followed by some competition at the second-string spot. The Tigers have redshirt freshman Taisun Phommachanh (a former 4-star) and true-freshman D.J. Uiagalelei  (5-star) behind Lawrence in what will prove to be an extremely talented unit.

When looking at 2020, you should be talking about the best version of Lawrence that we’ve seen with two very competent back-ups, though the experience is not there.

Rankings the Clemson football QB units by year

1. 2020
2. 2019
3. 2018
4. 2017

From 2017 and beyond, Clemson football has taken a step forward every single season at the quarterback position.

It’s impressive to see the Tigers continuing to improve and add depth at the most important position on the field and it’s clear they’ll have an opportunity to excel this season with talented quarterback play.