Despite coming off his best game of the season, Vic Burley might not be available on Saturday. The Clemson defensive tackle was a late addition to this week's ACC injury report. Burley is listed as questionable with an undisclosed injury. After registering his first sack of the season against Charleston Southern, there is now a 50-50 chance Burley may not be playing against Virginia Tech.
While he was widely seen as the most talented defensive tackle on the team coming in, Burley's late-summer arrest -- coupled with not being in ideal football shape after having served his indefinite suspension -- led to him being buried on the depth chart. Amare Adams, Andy Burburija, Darien Mayo, and Champ Thompson have all recently usurped Burley on the depth chart at defensive tackle.
So far this season, Adams, Burburija, Mayo, and Thompson have been more available and far more productive than Burley. With Kourtney Kelly working his way back into the rotation after his ACL injury, as well as Devarrick Woods expected to play after missing last weekend's game against lowly Charleston Southern, it is hard to say that the Tigers need to depend on Burley. He is so unreliable.
New addition to Clemson football’s pre-Virginia Tech availability report: Senior backup DT Vic Burley is now listed as questionable to play. Burley wasn’t on yesterday’s initial report
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) October 23, 2026
Anything Vic Burley gives Clemson the rest of the way is an added bonus
Even though it is a 50-50 proposition whether Burley plays on Saturday or not, keep in mind that he has only had 10 snaps in a game once this year. That came last week against Charleston Southern. Burley was a player who was expected to take the baton and run with it in the trenches for Clemson. Four years into his Clemson tenure, we still have not seen him blossom into the player we thought he would be.
Expectations are a funny thing sometimes, yielding disappointment far more often than not. While this undermanned defensive line has been giving its all this season, just imagine how much better this unit would be if Burley hit the ground running this year, as opposed to regressing. This is the one area of Tom Allen's defense that has yet to take flight. For better or worse, he will still get the most out of it.
Right now, we might want to invest more time and resources in the guys who have shown up and delivered for Clemson in the trenches than in Burley. Adams and Burburija became starters almost by default, but they have not relinquished their major roles either. With Mayo and Thompson rising to the occasion, it has become a more cohesive unit, albeit one that has the ceiling of merely a crawl space.
As for how to handle Burley's inconsistent nature the rest of the way, Clemson fans should view whatever he can provide the team as an added bonus, and nothing more. Yes, it does stink that he is dealing with an injury at this point in the season, as he was just starting to find his footing after having come back from his suspension. However, we are simply running out of time to see Burley produce.
Clemson can only hope that Virginia Tech does not expose the Tigers' defensive line issues early on.
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