Are you paying close attention? The Clemson Tigers' quarterback battle between Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds is more than meets the eye. While many speculate Vizzina will win the starting job out of fall camp, Reynolds beckons. The talented true freshman appears to be far more athletic than the long-time Clemson backup. This could matter in the end.
12 years ago, we saw something similar brewing at Clemson. Veteran Cole Stoudt waited patiently to take over for Tajh Boyd as the focal point of the Tigers' offense. While he did earn the starting job out of camp in 2014, Deshaun Watson was hot on his trail. Eventually, the talented true freshman overtook the upperclassman, and the rest is history. Reynolds could leapfrog Vizzina.
Pete Thamel touched on Reynolds' upside during a recent episode of the ESPN College GameDay podcast. The Boyd and Watson comparisons Reynolds is drawing are not going away either.
"The buzz right now at Clemson is true freshman Tait Reynolds is the guy for the future," Thamel said. "They're talking about him like they talked early on about Tajh Boyd and Deshaun Watson and really, really high-end guys. He's that level of athlete; he's a big baseball player. But I'm not going to go there."
Well, we are... Vizzina has been a good soldier since arriving at Clemson by way of his native Birmingham. He served as Cade Klubnik's backup the last few years before finally getting his turn to shine this offseason. Again, he still may win the starting job out of fall camp, but one should expect him to have a short leash. Clemson cannot afford to be pedestrian for the second year in a row.
Tait Reynolds has the upside to overtake Christopher Vizzina at QB1
When Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made it a point not to reveal a depth chart, this could have played a part in that. It is a double-edged sword to potentially motivate his players internally. However, there is a non-zero chance that Reynolds is the superior quarterback. For him to come in as a true freshman and turn heads this quickly is telling. Vizzina has to recognize the pressure coming at him.
Vizzina may be the ultimate throwback player, one whose veteran presence could soothe this much-anticipated quarterback transition. However, this team is hungry and desperate. Swinney may be an institution at Clemson, but college football is every bit a "What have you done for me lately?" sport. Let's also not overlook the two times Swinney bought into a talented freshman quarterback early on.
Swinney was rewarded by going with his gut, eventually, in starting Watson and Trevor Lawrence in games as true freshmen in 2014 and in 2018, respectively. Like Vizzina, Stoudt had been a team player waiting for his turn. Watson's talent quickly outshone him. As for Lawrence, he was able to overtake Kelly Bryant very quickly. Bryant was no scrub, as he led Clemson to the playoffs in 2017.
In the end, Swinney needs to have an honest confrontation with himself about this ongoing quarterback battle. Does he want to play it safe, or does he want to redefine Clemson football? If he prefers the former, it will be Vizzina starting games until it no longer makes sense. Should it be the latter, we may see Reynolds out there soon enough.
Swinney's Clemson journey has been defined by taking calculated risks. If it is too close to call, then he needs to roll with Reynolds, in the hopes that he grows into the player Boyd, Watson, and Lawrence were at Clemson before him.
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