Clemson Football: How will the Tigers use their extra scholarship?

Surprising news broke late Wednesday that linebacker TJ Dudley was no longer with the Clemson Football team. Dudley would be a redshirt freshman this season and was expected to be a key backup.

Head coach Dabo Swinney expressed Tuesday that he felt 85 scholarships were accounted for, which is the limit teams must be at by fall camp. 84 players were on scholarship, and the final one would be awarded to the winner of the long-snapping competition.

With Dudley’s departure, that means the Tigers have 84 scholarships accounted for, with one available.

There has been quite a bit of debate this spring about whether Clemson was being too conservative with the roster. Much of that time, there were 88 scholarships accounted for, and the discussion centered around whether the Tigers would be able to give scholarships to three former walk-ons in 2023 that previously were on scholarship: quarterback Hunter Helms (who might be the backup), running back Domonique Thomas (who will likely be third-string behind Will Shipley and Phil Mafah) and the long snapper (whoever wins between Holden Caspersen and Philip Florenzo).

Some were critical of the program for not pursuing a transfer wide receiver and using the scholarship count as a justification for not taking action. The argument was that there is always attrition on a roster over the spring and summer in the transfer portal era, and it was likely there would be scholarships available by the time fall camp started.

With Dudley’s exit, that argument has turned out to be correct. There is at least one scholarship available. Now the question is: How will Coach Swinney use it?