What Dabo Swinney revealed about Trevor Lawrence and Clemson’s 2018 QB battle

Kelly Bryant has led Clemson to the No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff and is undefeated in games that he has started and finished.

But Bryant will have plenty of competition for the starting quarterback job in 2018, including the No. 1 prospect in the country: Trevor Lawrence.

Lawrence signed with Clemson on Wednesday and is the biggest piece of the Tigers’ star-studded recruiting class. He is the first No. 1 overall recruit to sign with Clemson and it appears that he will be a part of the quarterback battle as soon as he arrives on campus.

“He’s got everything that you look for, you could possibly want. He’s just been a natural from Day 1, all the way from the ninth grade on,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “He’s got unbelievable arm talent. That’s pretty easy to see when you watch him, but I think he’s just a very poised guy that is a great competitor… He’s been a great leader for his program. He’s a very good student, and just a guy that I think knows what he wants and is willing to work for it.”

Lawrence has drawn comparisons to Deshaun Watson after breaking Watson’s career passing yards and touchdowns records for the state of Georgia.

Swinney said that Lawrence at 6-foot-6, 210 pounds is further along physically than Watson at this stage. Watson arrived at Clemson weighing about 180 pounds.

“He’s just so physically developed for a young guy. Deshaun was obviously pretty special coming out of Georgia… He’s just way ahead of Deshaun from a physical standpoint,” Swinney said. “We’ll see where he is mentally and how he transitions and all that once he gets here and we start coaching. I don’t think that you really know that until you start coaching a guy, but he’s been well prepared, well groomed.”

In addition to Bryant and Lawrence, Clemson also has freshman Hunter Johnson, redshirt freshman Zerrick Cooper and freshman Chase Brice on its roster.

Johnson and Cooper have split time as the backup quarterback this season, while Brice is redshirting. Swinney expects the quarterback battle to work itself out and everyone will get an opportunity to compete for the starting job.

“We’ve got good players here. They all understand competition. Trevor committed last December and has been one of the most low maintenance recruits I’ve ever been around… He’s known what he wants to do, and he’s excited about having an opportunity to come in here and compete,” Swinney said. “My job is to go recruit the best players that I can recruit for Clemson University, and then when they get here challenge them, grow them, mature them, develop them into being the best version of themselves. Competition is going to bring out the best in every one, and at the end of the day somebody’s going to win the job. You’re going to have starters. You’re going to have backups. And that’s life. That’s the way it is. So we have a process in place. You go through it and let the chips fall where they may.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 12:50 PM with the headline "What Dabo Swinney revealed about Trevor Lawrence and Clemson’s 2018 QB battle."