Clemson Football: Position Group Grades – Offense

Hey, does anyone want to talk about football instead of the finer points of state and federal jurisdictions? I know I do. Coach Swinney has the R.O.Y. bus in stealth mode for tomorrow’s trip to Baton Rouge and didn’t put out a depth chart this week (won’t someone think of the poor sports bloggers!). A few spots are still up for grabs on offense, but for the most part, we know who will start; the real questions come further down the depth chart. In an effort to avoid further updates on legal filings,

I’m going to put my phone in another room and write about the Clemson offense for the next hour or so; hopefully you find my attempt at self-soothing informative.

Clemson Offense

Grading Scale

This was harder to come up with than I anticipated. Here’s the problem: Do you judge Clemson’s talent by ACC Standards or National Standards?

I decided on ACC standards. After last year’s debacle, the Tigers, in my opinion, have returned to their former status as one of the teams that can compete for an ACC Championship, instead of being the clear-cut favorite.

A – Top 20 Nationally

B – Above Average ACC Talent

C – Average ACC Talent

D – Below Average ACC Talent

F – 2025 Clemson Safety Talent

Quarterback – Grade – B-

1. #17 – Christopher Vizzina – 6’4”, 210 – 4th Year
2. #2 – Tait Reynolds – 6’2”, 215 – 1st Year
3. #14 – Trent Pearman – 6’0”, 190

Thoughts: I’m higher on Vizzina than most. I had some unkind things to say about him coming into last season’s SMU game, and he shut me up. He did more than enough to win that game, only to see the defense refuse to make a play despite SMU’s quarterback hopping around on one leg for most of the game. He’s a former 4*, top 100 recruit who waited his turn behind a 5*, top 10 recruit who established himself as Clemson’s starting quarterback as a sophomore and led Clemson to an ACC Championship as a junior. You’ll forgive me if I don’t dock points from CV for not winning a job that was never open. I’m glad he stuck around, and I’m glad Clemson stuck with him. I’m going with a B- because his experience is limited to one real game thus far, but I’d love to see him prove me wrong.

Reynolds is the wildcard. He’s the fresh face with the big arm and athletic legs. I think it’s fair to compare him to a young Kelly Bryant. His running ability is ahead of his decision-making ability as a passer at this point. I think you’ll see him with a package of plays that limit his decision-making and let him use his legs more than CV. That doesn’t mean he’s a designated runner; tipping off the defense that the quarterback is running with the ball rarely works, but he won’t be asked to sit back in the pocket and throw intermediate dig routes either. I like Reynolds as a change-of-pace backup but wonder how he would handle the responsibilities as the full-time starter in his first season. Hopefully CV plays well, stays healthy, and the coaching staff can choose when to deploy Tait.

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Running Back – Grade – B

1. #8 – Gideon Davidson – 6’0”, 200 – 2nd Year
2. #16 – Chris Johnson Jr. – 6’0”, 190 – 4th Year
3. #24 – David Eziomume – 6’0”, 215 – 3rd Year – OR –
4. #22 – Jarvis Green – 5’9”, 205 – 4th Year – OR –
5. #26 – Jay Haynes – 5’11”, 200 – 4th year

Thoughts: Davidson was considered the 4th overall back in the nation coming out of high school in 2025. He’s known as a patient, polished back who might lack a little top-end speed but excels at finding a way through the line of scrimmage and into the second level of the defense. He’s not the next Travis Etienne or CJ Spiller; Clemson needs him to be the second coming of Wayne Gallman.

Chris Johnson, on the other hand, has no such issue with top-end speed. Rivals compared him to Steve Slaton coming out of high school in 2023, but I’m going to consider him the running-back version of Ray-Ray McCloud. Johnson isn’t a guy you hand the ball to 20 times a game between the tackles. Unlike Davidson, he’s known for his patience, but there’s no need to be patient if Chad Morris can find creative ways to get him the ball in space where he can challenge the defender to a foot race. I’ve got him listed as the backup running back, but I’m not sure he moves up to the full-time starting job if Davidson misses any extended time. It almost seems like a waist of his skill set.

That brings me to the depth. David Eziomume hasn’t lived up to his 4-star recruiting ranking thus far. I’d wager that’s one of the reasons why Adam Randall is playing running back for the Ravens. It feels like it’s getting late in the game in terms of his Clemson career. Jarvis Green has been on the coaching staff’s mind in press conferences. If I had to guess, he’s the first running back off the bench if Davidson goes down, assuming Johnson maintains his Swiss Army knife role in the offense. Green’s listed at 5’9”, which he might be on a particularly tall day, but he’s got 205 pounds packed onto that 5’9” frame and runs with a violent disposition. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him carve out a role in short-yardage situations. I hope we’re out of the defensive tackle / running back game now that Woods has moved on. Finally, Jay Haynes is going to find something to do on this offense at some point this season. He’s probably the best receiving back, but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy since his season-ending knee injury in 2024.

Tight End – Grade – A

1. #87 – Christian Bentancur – 6’4”, 250 – 3rd Year – OR –
2. #11 – Olsen Patt-Henry – 6’3”, 245 – 4th Year
3. #7 – Logan Brooking – 6’4”, 240 – 2nd Year

Thoughts:

Bentancur and O.P.H. are one of the nation’s best tight end tandems and were underutilized by Garrett Riley in 2025. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chad Morris’s preferred offensive formation this season involves 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) instead of the more traditional 11 personnel grouping. The Tigers have two big, athletic pass catchers capable of dominating the middle of the field and causing headaches in the redzone. It’s up to The Chad to figure out how to get them the ball more than a combined 36 times this season. I’d like to see that number closer to 60.

Dabo’s had good things to say about Logan Brooking. It sounds like he would be the first tight end off the bench, but if either Bentancur or O.P.H. went down, the logical move would be to shift back to more 11 personnel and use Brooking in select situations as the second tight end. Clemson’s depth isn’t spectacular, but their front line should be elite.

Wide Receiver – A

Field

1. #1 – TJ Moore – 6’3”, 200 – 3rd Year
2. #19 – Gordon Sellars III – 6’3, 200 – 1st Year

Boundary

1. #12 – Bryant Wesco Jr. – 6’2”, 195 – 3rd Year
2. #3 – Tristan Smith – 6’5”, 210 – 5th Year

Slot

1. #6 – Tyler Brown – 5’11”, 185 – 4th Year
2. #0 – Naeem Burroughs – 5’11”, 185 – 1st Year – OR –
3. #10 – Juju Preston – 6’0”, 155 – 2nd Year

Thoughts: By all accounts, Wesco Jr. is back to full speed after his scary neck injury last season. I’d prefer never to see him return another kick, please and thank you. He has elite speed and deep ball-tracking ability. This offense needs someone who can put the fear of God in the opposing safeties to keep them out of the box in the run game. If opposing safeties start getting nosey in the run game or with Clemson’s intermediate passing game, Wescoe Jr. is going long, and there aren’t many corners in college football who can turn and run with him when that happens.

TJ Moore has been solid in his two seasons at Clemson, but it feels like he hasn’t quite hit his stride. He pulled down 52 receptions for 837 yards and 4 touchdowns last season, but it still felt like he left some meat on the bone. The Tigers have a high standard for wide receivers, and TJ Moore’s performance has him a rung below the best Clemson has produced over the last 20 years. He has a chance to join the elite tier of Clemson receivers this season with a little more game-to-game consistency.

The slot will be a revolving door of players, depending on what the offense needs on any given drive. I see Tyler Brown as a crafty slot receiver who can get open underneath against zone coverage. Burroughs, on the other hand, has the juice to turn something short into something long in a hurry. When Chad dials up jet motion, Naeem’s speed will force the defense to react because if he gets to the corner, it’s pretty much a wrap.

Depth is the real question mark for this group. Tristan Smith is back for another season. Physically, he’s got everything you want from an outside receiver, but his hands turned into ping-pong paddles in the worst possible moments in 2o25. If he’s got that figured out, he’ll be a low-usage, high-yardage type of receiver who can win contested balls down the field and in the redzone. It sounds like true freshman Gordan Sellars was pushing him for that job but got banged up towards the end of camp. Smith would be well served to establish himself as the first receiver off the bench because you know Dabo won’t hesitate to throw a talented freshman wide receiver on the field. I’ve already mentioned Burroughs, but I see him as more of an -or- with Brown, which leaves sophomore JuJu Preston. He’s still only listed at 155 pounds after a full season in the program, but he’s another guy who can make people miss in the open field and make a play on his own.

Offensive Line – B-

Left Tackle

1. #74 – Brayden Jacobs – 6’7”, 345 – 2nd Year
2. #50 – Collin Sadler – 6’6”, 310 – 5th Year

Left Guard

1. #52 – Elyjah Thurmon – 6’4”, 325 – 3rd Year
2. #77 – Ronan O’Connell – 6’5”, 320 – 3rd Year – OR –
3. #75 – Tucker Kattus – 6’5”, 310 – 2nd Year

Center

1. #55 – Harris Sewell – 6’4”, 310 – 4th Year
2. #52 – Elyjah Thurmon – 6’4”, 325 – 3rd Year

Right Guard

1. #77 – Ronan O’Connell – 6’5”, 320 – 3rd Year – OR –
2. #75 – Tucker Kattus – 6’5”, 310 – 2nd Year
3. #76 – Mason Wade – 6’5”, 300 – 3rd Year

Right Tackle

1. #50 – Collin Sadler – 6’6”, 310 – 5th Year
2. #63 – Easton Ware – 6’5”, 310 – 2nd Year

If Brayden Jacobs and Collin Sadler remain healthy this season, the Tigers have A-level tackles. Jacobs is on the short list of physical freaks in the Dabo Swinney era and has the potential to be Dabo’s best left tackle. He’s big, he’s quick, and he’s smart. All he needs to do is add a little more nastiness to his game, and he’ll be an All-American by the end of his stay in Clemson.

On the other side, Sadler is a jack-of-all-trades type of lineman with the ability to play pretty much any position on the offensive line if need be. His best position, however, is right tackle, where he’s solid. He’s not a freak of nature like Jacobs, but he’s going to consistently do his job, regardless of where he lines up. He’ll start the season at right tackle, but could move inside if things don’t work out with one of the interior linemen.

Saddler can move around because sophomore Easton Ware is the heir apparent at right tackle. If you were rating the linemen, he’d be sixth with a bullet. If Ware stays healthy, he should get plenty of action this season in preparation for taking over the full-time job in 2027.

Things get a little dicey on the inside. Elyjah Thurmon looked like a future star, earning playing time as a true freshman, including a start against Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, he blew his knee on the first play of the game against Pitt and hasn’t looked right since. He was supposed to be a starter last season, but showed up out of shape and went down to another season-ending injury, this time in the third game of the season. It sounds like he’s the unquestioned starter at left guard. Hopefully the former 4* recruit is back on track, but I’ll stay skeptical until I see him make it through a start without a major injury. So far, he’s 0-2 in the endeavor.

Harris Sewell has moved over from guard to center. I hope he was playing out of position as a guard, because I did not like him at that position. I take Pro Football Focus’s player grades with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to the offensive line, but their assessment of Sewell and my assessment of Sewell lined up. He tended to be the lowest-rated offensive lineman in most games, and his pass-protection grades were horrific at times. His 11.8 pass-protection grade (out of 100) against SMU is one of the nastiest things I’ve seen on PFF, but I’m not sure how else to grade an interior lineman who was credited with giving up 6 QB hurries and 4 QB hits in a game. Hopefully the move inside fixes things, but once again, I’ll stay skeptical until I see the improvement with my own rapidly aging eyes.

Last but not least, right guard is one of the real position battles on the roster. Ronan O’Connell was the presumed starter heading into fall camp, but Tucker Kattus has made a serious play for the starting job. Competition is good, but I wonder whether Clemson has two good options or two options that the coaching staff isn’t 100% sold on yet. I also wonder if Ware isn’t the 5th-best overall lineman and Sadler needs to move inside to get Clemson’s best 5 on the field. If you haven’t caught on yet, I have some questions about the Tigers’ interior line that I’d love for them to answer tomorrow night in Baton Rouge.

Overall Grade – B

Can Chris Vizzina be more than a serviceable ACC quarterback?

That’s the question that needs to be answered in the affirmative before I can move this offense up a letter grade to one of the best in the country. They are loaded at wide receiver and tight end, have some intriguing talent at running back, but the offensive line and quarterback remain a question mark. Clemson having some questions on the offensive line isn’t anything new, but they’ve done some impressive things on offense in the past with mid-level offensive line play. That’s mostly due to high-level quarterback play. If C.V. proves that he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC, the offensive line issues somewhat solve themselves. If he’s not one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC, Tait Reynolds had better be, because there is no reason for Clemson not to have a top-tier ACC quarterback, and if Clemson wants to get back on the national scene, it’ll need top-tier quarterback play to achieve that goal.

I hope that I will revisit this article in December and change C.V.’s grade from a B- to an A in my ACC Championship game preview. Don’t let people lie to you. This team still has elite talent. If the quarterback is good, this offense could be great. If the quarterback is bad, things could fall apart in a hurry.

Dabo pushed all his chips in on Vizzina being “the guy”. If that bet hits, the fact that Clemson isn’t ranked to start the season will be one of the bigger jokes in college football outside of Baton Rouge. If it doesn’t, we’ll be having an entirely different conversation in December about Dabo and his coaching staff.