At every position on offense, Dabo believes he has quality and quantity

No Deshaun Watson. No Mike Williams. No problem?

That seems to be the mindset at Clemson as the Tigers prepare to open the season Saturday against Kent State with several new faces on offense.

New stars will be counted on to emerge. But at least in terms of depth, co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott believes this group has a chance to be special.

“I think the depth that we have offensively is probably the best that it’s been since I’ve been at Clemson in nine years,” Scott said. “I really do.”

Clemson can rotate players at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end and offensive line without much drop off, if any, coaches said.

“I think that we’ve got depth at every position,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said.

Up front the Tigers will start two players who have earned their degrees, a pair of juniors and one of two sophomores in either Tremayne Anchrum or Sean Pollard at right tackle.

Whichever one wins the job will be joined by Mitch Hyatt, Taylor Hearn, Justin Falcinelli and Tyrone Crowder. Clemson plans to rotate linemen to keep them fresh.

“It’s definitely the best offensive line we’ve had,” Swinney said. “Just a really veteran group that’s deep on experience and has got a lot of talent to go with it. That’s where it starts.”

Swinney has consistently said the Tigers can win with Kelly Bryant, Zerrick Cooper or Hunter Johnson at quarterback. He doubled down on a comment about Clemson’s scholarship receivers having a future in the NFL on Tuesday.

“All those receivers can play. That’s as good a group as we’ve had. I literally think our nine scholarship guys all one day will play after Clemson,” Swinney said. “They’re all at different stages with their development, but they all have the skill. Now, health, will they have the stick-to-it-ness to develop and hang in there?”

Perhaps the biggest question other than quarterback is at tight end, where starter Milan Richard has caught one pass. Scott has confidence in the junior, as well as backups D.J. Greenlee, Cannon Smith and Shadell Bell.

“Milan has definitely earned the opportunity to be the starter,” Scott said. “We’ve got confidence in all four of those guys that they know what to do. The biggest thing is who are going to be the guys that can step up in the game and make plays when we need them?”

Swinney also believes Clemson has four running backs ready to open up some eyes.

“Running back, I think we might surprise some people. I think we’re really good at running back,” Swinney said. “We’ve got some guys that can play and you’re going to see them all.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 5:43 PM.