Dabo Swinney may already think he has his quarterback of the future in Tait Reynolds. While he did play well in the Clemson Tigers' road win over the Florida State Seminoles, that was only one game against a bad team that fired its head coach after the fact. If Reynolds wants to truly solidify his QB1 status at Clemson for next season, how he plays against Syracuse and Georgia Tech will matter a ton.
This is because these are two incredibly winnable games for the Tigers. Clemson is a slight favorite over Syracuse on the road, while Georgia Tech is one loss away from missing out on a bowl game. If Reynolds plays well in those two contests, he should play with even more confidence heading into Clemson's two hardest games left: at Duke on Friday night, and then at home against South Carolina.
While the Gamecocks are a top-25 team after the first College Football Playoff rankings, Duke has the better record overall at 6-2. Although neither team are not contending for a national title, Clemson could be up against it taking on either of them in the final two weeks of the regular season. This is why Reynolds needs to play well the next two weeks, as they are the closest things he will have to layups.
Tait Reynolds has 4 more chances to solidify his QB1 status for next year
One of the ways Reynolds has helped himself so far in Clemson's first three games out of the bye is by limiting his turnovers. In fact, he has not turned the ball over at any point in the last three games. Nobody on the first-team offense has since coming out of the bye either. Clemson being at a net positive in turnover differential is a big boost to allow a true freshman quarterback to round into form.
While he was feeling himself a little bit at the podium by suggesting Florida State was pumping in crowd noise, Reynolds does play a position where confidence matters so much on the field of play. The last thing Swinney needs is for Reynolds to regress in any way, shape, or form between now and the Duke game. Otherwise, we may be looking at another 7-6 season out of Clemson, or even worse.
So the stage is set for Reynolds. Whether he takes advantage of it over the next two weeks is entirely up to him. No, it does not look like Christopher Vizzina will be allowed to compete for the starting job again. All signs point toward him hitting the transfer portal and exiting stage right after four years with the program. However, Reynolds has to clearly be the guy before the regular season comes to an end.
Ultimately, these next two games against Syracuse and Georgia Tech will say more about Reynolds' future at Clemson than anything. If he cannot hold his own against Steve Angeli or Alberto Mendoza, then Swinney might need to reconsider how he feels about the transfer portal. Reynolds is way more talented than Duke's Walker Eget, but he is not the next LaNorris Sellers in the Palmetto State either.
Wins over Syracuse and Georgia Tech would be wondeful, but Reynolds' play is at the top of the list.
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