Clemson planning a two-QB system for 2018? It could happen
Kelly Bryant will enter fall camp with a slim lead on Trevor Lawrence for Clemson’s starting quarterback job.
If that gap remains small and Tigers coach Dabo Swinney feels both quarterbacks deserve to play, Clemson could use a two-quarterback system in 2018.
“Oh yea, absolutely if we needed to,” Swinney said when asked about the possibility at his media golf outing Tuesday. “At that position, it’s always nice to just have a guy that you can kind of just hang your hat on. But having said that, there’s nothing wrong with having really good players, multiple good players, at any position. I’ve never really kind of understood that.”
Swinney pointed out that in 2014, the Tigers were stacked on the defensive line and Vic Beasley and Shaq Lawson rotated regularly.
“I didn’t care who started, just go play well. We didn’t rotate them just because we were trying to make them happy. We rotated them because they were both really good and they both practiced really well and they both helped us win,” Swinney said. “That’s just one position. I could go on and on and on about spots like that. The same thing at running back this year. You’re not going to play (Tavien) Feaster and (Travis) Etienne and Adam Choice? Are you kidding me?”
Clemson has not used a two-quarterback system under Swinney, at least not for a full season.
The last time Clemson came close to doing so was in 2014 when Deshaun Watson was battling with Cole Stoudt for the starting job.
Watson came off the bench early in the season before earning the starting job, then going down with an injury. But once healthy, he was clearly Clemson’s No. 1 option the second half of the year.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with (playing two quarterbacks). It just hasn’t really been the case for us to where we’ve been able to have that. We’ve always had somebody separate. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be that way. Who knows,” Swinney said. “We’ll see what happens. Regardless of what happens, Kelly’s going to have an opportunity to play. If he gets beat out, I mean how are you not going to play Kelly Bryant? You don’t think he can help us win?”
If Bryant doesn’t get beat out and is named the starter, the Tigers will still play multiple quarterbacks, at least early in the year.
Hunter Johnson and Zerrick Cooper both transferred in the offseason, meaning Bryant is the only quarterback on Clemson’s roster who has played in a game.
“Sometimes you’ve got a guy that you just need to get some experience. You can’t wait until Game 7 to run a guy out there and he’s hyperventilating. You need to find a spot to get him in a game somewhere,” Swinney said. “We’ll see how it all plays out, but I’m not opposed to that. I’ve seen people be very successful playing two quarterbacks, but we’ll see how it plays out.”
This story was originally published July 18, 2018 at 3:51 PM.