Clemson QB competition is a good thing
Freshman Lawrence is pushing starter Bryant
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The first thought Clemson senior defensive end Clelin Ferrell had of true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence was: He’s pretty good.
The five-star billing Lawrence carried into the spring as an early enrollee was the first hint Clemson can feel secure about its future at the position. Then there was a throw Lawrence made during spring drills: He uncorked a sidearm, 50-yard heave rocketing into the end zone while rolling to his left, nonthrowing side.
Even Ferrell and the seniors on Clemson’s veteran roster were impressed. There was already some smoke around the idea that Dabo Swinney and his staff would force senior Kelly Bryant, the incumbent starter, to fight to stay atop the depth chart. With his play thus far, Lawrence has added fuel to the fire.
“You just see the talent,” Ferrell said. “He is as advertised. He just has all the gifts. He’s a guy who just kind of knows that he has the ability to play at this level.”
One of the strangest aspects of the many offseason competitions is that they are viewed as a positive, based on the idea that competition will breed success, at every position but one: quarterback.
It’s under center that the idea of competition becomes more complex. There’s the tired adage: If you have two quarterbacks, you really have none.
The premise doesn’t apply to Clemson. Locked and loaded across the board for another run at the College Football Playoff, the Tigers can and should instead view this ongoing competition as a win-win situation.
The national perception of Bryant’s performance as a junior is impacted by the all-too-easy contrast made to his predecessor, Deshaun Watson, a transcendent college talent who willed Clemson to its first national championship in more than three decades. Anyone would suffer in comparison.
But Bryant was exactly as advertised — he wasn’t Watson, but few are. He led Clemson to 12 wins and another Atlantic Coast Conference championship as a first-year starter before struggling in a Sugar Bowl loss to Alabama, though that defeat and his own subpar perfor- mance can be tied directly to the Crimson Tide’s dominance at the line of scrimmage.
“I think Kelly’s always been a worker,” Clemson senior offensive tackle Mitch Hyatt said. “He’s just born to play on the field. I think he’s just doing what he always does, just working.”
Lawrence’s play in the spring has created one of two scenarios. The first is that he’s simply too good to keep off the field. The second is that he pushes Bryant to improve his game, and in doing so Bryant secures his place as the face of Clemson’s offense. Either way, the Tigers should feel confidence in the position heading into September.
“It’s always a good thing to have a lot of good players. I don’t think that’s ever a bad thing, that’s for sure,” Swinney said.
Besides, one of the hallmarks of Swinney’s tenure, and the explosive growth this program has experienced in the past five years, has been the coaching staff ’s willingness to force even returning contributors to re-establish their place in the starting lineup. Not every team is so fortunate.