Clemson Football: Stability Needed on the Offensive Line

Clemson football is known for many things, among them is cross-training their offensive lineman so that they can play multiple positions if needed.

In some ways, this is a positive.  It’s not a question of if injuries are going to happen to linemen, it’s when, who, how many and how long are they going to be out.

On the other hand, after a season like the Tigers had last season, some begin to wonder if trying to learn multiple positions took a toll on the ability to do one thing well, or at least competently.

If things looked better at the end of last season, it’s because the line settled in after 10 games.

"Clemson eventually settled on a group of guys by Week 10 and over the last four games the Tigers ran the football much better and found an identity up front. However, two of those pieces they thought they might have back on the O-line are gone. Hunter Rayburn retired from football due to medical conditions and Mason Trotter is expected to miss the majority of the year due to eligibility issues."

It likely happens every day at your job.  You were hired to do certain things, but hey Joe’s out today and we need you to cover for him, so you do both jobs.

You also may not do either job as well as you could if that job was all you had to worry about.

No one is going to confuse last years line with any of the best offensive lines of all-time, but they were more productive, got the job done and won all their games after “settling in” with a particular group.

Now two of the five pieces are gone and it’s time to begin the process all over again.

It appears that Clemson’s philosophy hasn’t changed though, as new offensive line coach Thomas Austin indicated cross-training will continue.

"“So, we need more functional depth than we had last year. So, that is where that next group of guys have to really step up.”"

Ah yes, the oft-repeated “functional depth” adjective is already being thrown around and it’s only early April.

The coaches certainly know better than me, but it seems like at a time when the team is struggling and with 2 new members it would be a time to focus on the basics of your position. Singular.

That’s not the strategy being employed this spring however, and I think it’s fair to question the continued pursuit of functional depth at the cost of becoming a specialist in one area.

Functional depth is a luxury when you can’t run the ball or protect the passer, which we saw both of in 2021.

If the Tigers are successful along the line in the fall, I’ll be happy to say I was wrong, because the alternative is I was not wrong and the struggle continued into 2022.