Clemson Tigers Finalizing Starting Candidates on Offensive Line

Clemson football is nearing the start to the regular season, and head coach Dabo Swinney is coming closer to a decision on his starting offensive line to begin 2026.

During the team’s scrimmage that took place on Thursday night, Swinney gave some more details regarding what the room will look like and who is stepping up to fill four of the five starting roles that were left in the offseason. It’s not shocking to see who stepped up, based on the experience that some of the candidates come back with. 

“I think the first group’s been really good,” Swinney said on Thursday.”I’ve been really pleased with those guys. I think we got some alphas in that group. I’ve been really pleased.”

The four that he mentioned, not too many surprises, were sophomore Brayden Jacobs at left tackle, junior Elyjah Thurmon at left guard, senior Harris Sewell at center and graduate Collin Sadler at right tackle. When all were healthy, all were important for Clemson last season, and for other experienced pieces, beyond the 2025 season. 

“Those four, they’ve really impressed me,” Swinney said. 

The left side of Jacobs and Thurmon was something Swinney experimented with at times last season, despite Thurmon going down in Week 4 against Syracuse. Meanwhile, Jacobs continues to see a higher snap share towards the middle of the season, playing both guard and tackle. 

Sewell comes in with over 1,600 snaps, but most, if not all, of them came from playing guard. He now moves to the center position, although he’s been prepared to take the reins after Ryan Linthicum ran out of eligibility in 2025.

Meanwhile, Sadler, whose seen snaps since 2022, will be at right tackle, although Swinney said that he could move into guard as well, if needed. 

As for the right guard position, Clemson is still embracing the competition on that end. However, there remain two expected candidates to be starters, as well as others who could plug in over the course of the schedule. 

“Same candidates. [Tucker] Kattus, Ronan [O’Connell], Sadler can move in there. Easton [Ware] can play in there. Grant Wise can play in there,” Swinney said. “We got all kinds of options.”

The Tigers still have time to decide, but it will be a matter of who connects in the right way with the rest of the line. Especially with Clemson’s first game coming at Tiger Stadium against LSU, one of the loudest in the entire country, communication will be the priority for the first game under Chad Morris, with a new quarterback in Christopher Vizzina. 

Of course, Swinney can switch people in and out, especially with the cross-training that he does with different players, but he will need to best five right away to begin next season.

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